In a dramatic development for Middle East peace efforts, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Hamas has reached a landmark agreement to fully disarm in Gaza, framing the deal as a pivotal breakthrough toward establishing a new unified Palestinian government in the war-torn enclave.
Senior Hamas officials confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the tentative deal with Israel includes binding provisions addressing the future of the group’s weapons arsenal and maps out a timeline for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli military forces from the Gaza Strip. A senior anonymous Hamas official stated, “An agreement has been reached regarding the issue of weapons… Furthermore, an agreement has been reached on a gradual withdrawal of (Israeli forces)” from the coastal territory.
As of Thursday, Israeli officials had not issued any immediate public comment on the announcement. Trump’s confirmation follows reports from anonymous sources close to mediated negotiations in Cairo, who told AFP that the Palestinian Islamist movement had made substantial progress toward a deal that would require the full decommissioning of all its military capabilities.
Posting to his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “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.” He added that the disarmament process would unfold in “carefully structured phases.”
He went on to outline the next steps of the plan: “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.” Trump also extended public thanks to mediation teams from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, who have facilitated months of backchannel talks.
The question of Hamas disarmament has long been one of the most intractable sticking points in advancing the existing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which has been in place in Gaza since October. Even with the ceasefire in effect, low-level violence has persisted across the enclave: on Thursday alone, Israeli airstrikes killed at least four Palestinians, including two children, according to local Gaza health officials.
Early Friday, Egypt’s state-linked outlet Al-Qahera News reported that Cairo would host a new round of talks between truce mediators “soon.” The delegation of mediators includes representatives from the United States, Qatar, and Turkey, in addition to Egyptian hosts. While the outlet did not share a specific date for the gathering, it confirmed the meeting will focus on implementing the second phase of the existing Gaza ceasefire plan, a roadmap that Hamas and all major Palestinian factions have already signaled their approval of.
The second phase of the ceasefire, as laid out in Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace framework, requires Hamas disarmament and the gradual drawdown of Israeli forces from all occupied areas of Gaza. The plan also establishes a transitional governing body made up of independent Palestinian technocrats, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), which will oversee day-to-day governance of the enclave during the post-war transition period.
In off-the-record comments to AFP, an anonymous senior diplomatic source detailed the core terms of the agreed implementation roadmap: “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 emphasized that there would be no carve-outs for any faction or weapons system: “no exceptions for certain weapons or certain people. One authority, one law, one weapon.” The roadmap also includes a formal process to locate and destroy all smuggling tunnels, weapons storage depots, and illicit weapons manufacturing facilities operating across Gaza, the source added.
“All weapons, heavy and light, will be under full control of the NCAG in coordination with and with the support of the ISF,” the source said, referring to the International Stabilisation Force, a new multinational security body created under the Trump-led Board of Peace framework. A formal independent verification mechanism will be put in place to ensure full compliance from all parties to the agreement, the source confirmed.
A Hamas official familiar with the negotiations told AFP earlier this week that the movement is “awaiting the Israeli response to the amendments we recently submitted to the mediators.” The amendments focus on two specific articles of the original roadmap presented by the Board of Peace, the official said. Regarding the section focused on weapons disarmament, the official noted that “some points were removed, and alternatives were proposed.”
Yet the proposed deal has yet to win Israeli endorsement: an anonymous Israeli political source told AFP that the current text does not “satisfactorily” address core Israeli national security demands. “Israel demands the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and full demilitarization of the Strip as a precondition for any process,” the source said. The source also added that “the issue of Gaza did not come up at all” in this week’s White House meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump in Washington.