Hamas agrees to disarm under Trump plan
A committee established by Trump’s Board of Peace to govern Gaza would oversee the process of storing the Islamist movement’s weapons.
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A committee established by Trump’s Board of Peace to govern Gaza would oversee the process of storing the Islamist movement’s weapons.
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Hamas said Friday it had agreed to a deal announced by United States President Donald Trump to end the war with Israel, that includes it handing over its weapons to a Palestinian governing committee and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Israel did not immediately comment on the announcement, but shortly beforehand an Israeli political source had told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the proposed agreement did not “satisfactorily” address Israeli demands for the full demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
The source also said that “the issue of Gaza did not come up at all” in this week’s meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Trump in Washington.
The Palestinian Islamist group’s weapons have been one of the key sticking points in implementing a ceasefire deal in place since October, but Trump announced late Thursday an agreement for Hamas’ “complete disarmament,” calling it a critical step toward a new Palestinian government in Gaza.
Hamas officials told AFP that a committee established by Trump’s Board of Peace to govern Gaza would oversee the process of storing the Islamist movement’s weapons.
The group said it expected mediators and the Board of Peace to ensure Israel complied with the deal’s terms, which include Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of the group’s negotiating team, said the movement was making “concessions for the sake of our people in the Gaza Strip, to save them from killing and displacement.”
“Israel will not intervene in the issue of disarmament. The National Committee is the body that will undertake this task,” he said, referring to the National Committee for Administration of Gaza (NCAG).
Despite the October ceasefire, violence has continued in Gaza, with Israeli strikes killing at least four people, including two children, on Thursday, according to health officials.
The Board of Peace confirmed in a post on X 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 wrote, adding the NCAG will “soon begin a phased transition toward full authority.”
Trump, in an earlier social media post, said that once Hamas is disarmed “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.”
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, said Friday the deal “took months of very difficult negotiations.”
“What happens next matters even more. Implementation and verification have to be real,” Mladenov wrote on X.
“Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning,” he added.
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