ISRAEL: Hamas agrees to disarm under President Trump Peace Plan to end the war in Gaza
Hamas announced on Friday, July 31, that it has agreed to a deal outlined by US President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza, which includes handing over its weapons to a Palestinian governing committee alongside a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Israel did not immediately issue an official response. However, an Israeli political source disclosed shortly before the announcement that the proposed framework did not “satisfactorily” meet Israel’s demands for the full demilitarization of the enclave. The source added that “the issue of Gaza did not come up at all” during the recent meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump in Washington.
The surrender of weapons by Palestinian militant factions has remained a primary point of contention in implementing a long-term resolution. President Trump announced the breakthrough late Thursday, describing the agreement for Hamas’s “complete disarmament” as a critical milestone toward establishing a new administration in Gaza.
Hamas representatives confirmed that a committee established by Trump’s Board of Peace would oversee the storage of the movement’s arms. The group noted that it expects international mediators and the Board of Peace to ensure Israel complies with its obligations, including a complete troop withdrawal.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas negotiating team, stated that the movement was making “concessions for the sake of our people in the Gaza Strip, to save them from killing and displacement.”
Emphasizing the terms of the oversight mechanism, Hamad stated: “Israel will not intervene in the issue of disarmament. The National Committee is the body that will undertake this task.”
Despite existing ceasefire protocols, sporadic violence has continued, with health officials reporting that Israeli strikes killed at least four people in Gaza on Thursday.
Addressing the next steps, the Board of Peace confirmed on X that Hamas had “agreed to a detailed Roadmap for implementing the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire,” adding: “Our focus now turns to implementation.”
The roadmap envisions the National Committee for Administration of Gaza (NCAG) assuming governance responsibilities in stages. President Trump noted that following disarmament, “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 neighbours.”
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, stressed that the agreement followed “months of very difficult negotiations,” adding: “What happens next matters even more. Implementation and verification have to be real. Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning.”
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United States are preparing to convene in Cairo to discuss the second phase of the transition. A diplomatic source confirmed that the plan establishes “a process for the elimination of all tunnels, depots of weapons and any weapons production facilities,” maintaining a strict policy of “one authority, one law, one weapon.”
Before the announcement, an Israeli political source reiterated Tel Aviv’s firm position: “Israel demands the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and full demilitarisation of the Strip as a precondition for any process.”