Hamas Agrees to Disarm Under Trump Plan to End Gaza War

GAZA CITY: Hamas said Friday it had agreed to a US-backed plan announced by President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza, including the handover of its weapons to a Palestinian governing committee and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.

The announcement marks a major development in efforts to implement the Gaza ceasefire, with Hamas’ weapons remaining one of the most contentious issues in negotiations over the future of the territory.

Hamas officials told AFP that the group had agreed to a process under which a committee established by Trump’s Board of Peace would oversee the storage of its weapons. The group also said it expected mediators and the Board of Peace to ensure that Israel complies with the terms of the agreement, particularly provisions concerning the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ negotiating team, said the group had made concessions to prevent further suffering among Palestinians.

“We are making concessions for the sake of our people in the Gaza Strip, to save them from killing and displacement,” Hamad said.

He stressed that Israel would not be directly involved in the disarmament process, saying the task would instead be handled by the National Committee for Administration of Gaza (NCAG).

“Israel will not intervene in the issue of disarmament. The National Committee is the body that will undertake this task,” Hamad said.

Trump announced late Thursday that Hamas had agreed to what he described as its “complete disarmament,” presenting the move as a critical step toward establishing a new Palestinian government in Gaza.

Under the proposed arrangement, Trump said Israeli forces would withdraw once Hamas is disarmed, while an International Stabilization Force would work alongside a new Palestinian police force to assume responsibility for security in Gaza.

The Board of Peace confirmed Friday that Hamas had “agreed to a detailed Roadmap for implementing the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire.”

“Our focus now turns to implementation,” the organization said in a post on X, adding that the NCAG would “soon begin a phased transition toward full authority.”

Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, said the agreement was reached following months of difficult negotiations and warned that implementation would be as important as the agreement itself.

“What happens next matters even more. Implementation and verification have to be real,” Mladenov said on X.

“Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning,” he added.

Israel had not immediately commented on Hamas’ announcement. However, an Israeli political source told AFP shortly beforehand that the proposed agreement did not “satisfactorily” address Israel’s demand for the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.

The source also said the issue of Gaza had not been discussed during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump in Washington earlier this week.

Despite the ceasefire that has been in place since October, violence has continued in Gaza. Health officials said Israeli strikes on Thursday killed at least four people, including two children.

The issue of Hamas’ weapons has been one of the major obstacles to fully implementing the ceasefire agreement and determining the political and security future of Gaza.

Attention is now shifting toward the implementation of the latest arrangement, including the disarmament process, Israeli troop withdrawals and the establishment of a new Palestinian administration and security structure.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera News reported Friday that Cairo will soon host a meeting of the ceasefire mediators, including the United States, Qatar and Turkiye, to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan.