The parties in the Israel-Hamas war have agreed to a “historic” framework paving the way to rebuild Gaza and remake its government, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.
The deal includes the “COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Hamas communicated via mediators that it has agreed to the terms of the multi-step road map, U.S. and Board of Peace officials told The Independent.
The deal will eventually see the group hand security and political control to an international stabilization force of troops, a newly trained Palestinian police force and a transitional group of technocratic experts overseeing basic services, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the officials said.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, will pull back its troops from Gaza in phases, according to President Trump.
“One year ago there was a violent raging war, humanitarian crisis and hostages kept in brutal captivity,” he wrote in his post outlining the alleged agreement. “We have made historic progress and there is still much work to do.”
Each phase of the deal would be verified by a committee that certifies compliance on all sides before additional changes would take place, the U.S. officials said.
The disarmament process would include the handover of personal weapons, the decommissioning of heavy military hardware in Gaza and the disclosure and destruction of hidden Hamas tunnels, the officials added.
Hamas member Ghazi Hammad told Al Jazeera that the group will follow through with disarmament if Israel maintains its obligations.
“Israel will not interfere in the disarmament issue, and the national committee is the one that will carry out this task”, he said.
“Hamas remains steadfast in its national goals, represented by preserving the rights of the Palestinian people,” Hammad added.
As of Thursday evening, there were signs Israel may not have agreed to precisely what the U.S. was describing.
An unnamed Israeli official told i24, an Israeli news channel, that Gaza had not been discussed during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to Washington. The official reportedly added that Israel would not fully withdraw from Gaza until Hamas had fully disarmed and the Strip had been completely demilitarized.
The Independent has contacted Israel and its military for comment.
The Trump-led Board of Peace has claimed billions of dollars have been pledged to support the rebuilding effort in Gaza. U.S. officials said those funds would begin flowing towards construction and development efforts once the disarmament and transition deal was underway.
The U.S. officials claimed the terms of the deal could be complied with in less than 365 days, though they cautioned that figure represented a rough estimate assuming all sides upheld the agreement.
There have been hints of progress in recent days, following months of tense, multi-party negotiations in the wake of a decision by the United Nations Security Council in November to approve last fall’s initial, U.S.-led Gaza rebuilding plan.
This week, Israel approved the limited entry of the Board of Peace’s planned International Stabilization Force, which U.S. officials said on Thursday had about 5,000 troops that could eventually be committed from various nations.
Earlier this month, Hamas announced it was dissolving the body it had used to govern Gaza since the mid-2000s, when it seized control of the territory from rival Fatah.
The Trump-endorsed peace deal would sideline the Palestinian Authority, which exercises partial control over the Israeli-occupied West Bank, until it makes unspecified reforms that could open the way for future involvement in Gaza, the U.S. officials said on Thursday.
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