Hamas Agrees to Disarm Under Trump Gaza Deal
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- Hamas said Friday it will begin disarming under a Trump-brokered deal requiring Israel to end strikes and withdraw from Gaza, but linked the later decommissioning of heavy weapons and tunnels to creation of a Palestinian state — a demand Israel's current government adamantly rejects.
- Israel has not officially commented and is not a signatory to the agreement; an Israeli official told reporters Thursday there will be no Israeli withdrawal before Hamas is disarmed and the strip demilitarized.
- The deal's guarantors — the U.S., Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar — say Hamas police arms will transfer to a U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic committee rather than to Israel or non-Palestinian parties.
- A Board of Peace official said the heavy-weapons decommissioning phase could take 200 to 350 days, a timeline not found in the agreement text obtained by the AP.
- Chatham House's Neil Quilliam said "Netanyahu's silence speaks volumes," warning that agreeing to the deal would likely scupper the prime minister's chances ahead of October elections.
- Israel currently controls around 60% of Gaza — areas mostly destroyed and depopulated — while the remaining territory holds most of Gaza's two million Palestinians in squalid tent camps and ruined neighborhoods.
Why it matters: Hamas accepting disarmament marks a historic reversal of its founding charter, but Israel isn't even a signatory and Netanyahu faces October elections that make withdrawal politically toxic. The 200-350 day decommissioning timeline, tied to a Palestinian state Jerusalem rejects, means the 'breakthrough' could collapse before implementation begins.
