Trump Declares "Historic" Agreement for "Complete Disarmament" of Hamas in Gaza

Violence has persisted in Gaza despite the ceasefire; according to health officials, Israeli strikes on Thursday killed at least four Palestinians, including two children.

An agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas was announced on Thursday by US President Donald Trump, who described it as a crucial step toward a new Palestinian government in Gaza.

According to senior Hamas officials who spoke to AFP, the agreement with Israel contains clauses pertaining to the group's weapons and the Israeli army' gradual pullout from the Gaza Strip.On the subject of weaponry, an agreement has been achieved.Additionally, a senior Hamas official stated that an agreement had been struck about the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

Israel did not immediately make a statement.

Trump's declaration followed reports that the Palestinian Islamist organization was moving closer to a settlement including the decommissioning of its weapons, according to people familiar with the continuing negotiations with mediators in Cairo.A historic agreement to completely disarm Hamas and all other armed factions in Gaza was achieved today by the Board of Peace. On his Truth Social platform, Trump tweeted, "This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY." He stated that disarmament will occur in "carefully structured phases."

He thanked the mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. "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," he continued.

One of the main obstacles to the progress of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the organization in Gaza since October has been the difficult problem of Hamas's disarming.

Violence has persisted in Gaza despite the ceasefire; according to health officials, Israeli strikes on Thursday killed at least four Palestinians, including two children.

Early Friday in Egypt, state-affiliated Al-Qahera News claimed that Cairo will hold a conference "soon" of the mediators for the Gaza truce, who also include the United States, Qatar, and Turkey.

The news agency stated that it would address carrying out the second phase of the Gaza truce plan, a roadmap that Hamas and Palestinian factions had agreed upon, although it did not indicate when the meeting would take place.

The second phase of the ceasefire under Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza called for the disarmament of Hamas and the slow disengagement of Israeli forces from the region.

The plan also provides for a group of Palestinian technocrats, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), to assume day-to-day governance during Gaza's transitional phase out of war.
'No exceptions'

Earlier, a diplomatic source told AFP: "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, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said there would be "no exceptions for certain weapons or certain people. One authority, one law, one weapon".

The roadmap, the source said, would create "a process for the elimination of all tunnels, depots of weapons and any weapons production facilities".

"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 added, referring to the International Stabilisation Force, a fledgling body envisaged to comprise multinational troops operating under Trump's Board of Peace.

The source said a verification mechanism would ensure compliance by each side.

A Hamas source familiar with the talks told AFP earlier that the movement is "awaiting the Israeli response to the amendments we recently submitted to the mediators".

The source said the amendments concerned two articles in the roadmap presented by the Board of Peace.

Regarding the article concerning weapons, the Hamas source said that "some points were removed, and alternatives were proposed".

An Israeli political source earlier told AFP that the proposed deal does not "satisfactorily" address Israeli 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 said that "the issue of Gaza did not come up at all" in the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Trump in Washington this week.