President Trump announces a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas in Gaza, with phased implementation.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas, calling it a critical step toward a new Palestinian government in Gaza. There was no immediate statement from Hamas, but sources familiar with talks in Cairo told AFP that the group was progressing towards a deal involving decommissioning its weapons.
“Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, saying disarmament would take place in “carefully structured phases.”
“As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors,” he added, thanking mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
The issue of Hamas’s disarmament has been a key sticking point in the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in place since October. Despite the ceasefire, Israeli strikes killed at least four people including two children on Thursday, according to health officials.
Cairo is set to host a meeting “soon” of the Gaza truce mediators, including the US, Qatar, and Turkey, state-linked Al-Qahera News reported early Friday. The meeting would discuss implementing the second phase of the ceasefire plan, which involves disarmament and gradual Israeli withdrawal.
A diplomatic source told AFP: “We continue to advance the implementation roadmap that offers a balanced and pragmatic path forward, with all weapons decommissioned and a phased transition of responsibilities taking place to hand over full authority to the technocratic government.” The source said there would be “no exceptions for certain weapons or certain people. One authority, one law, one weapon”. The roadmap would create “a process for the elimination of all tunnels, depots of weapons and any weapons production facilities”. Weapons would be under control of the NCAG in coordination with the ISF, and a verification mechanism would ensure compliance.
A Hamas source familiar with the talks told AFP that the movement is “awaiting the Israeli response to the amendments we recently submitted to the mediators”. The amendments concerned two articles in the roadmap, including one on weapons: “some points were removed, and alternatives were proposed.”
An Israeli political source told AFP that the proposed deal does not “satisfactorily” address Israeli demands, which require complete disarmament and full demilitarisation as a precondition. The source also said that “the issue of Gaza did not come up at all” in the meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Trump in Washington this week.
