Trump announcement of ‘complete disarmament’ of Hamas gives hope to Gaza
US President Donald Trump has announced an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas, calling it a critical step towards a new Palestinian government in Gaza.
Trump’s announcement came after sources familiar with the ongoing talks with mediators in Cairo told AFP that the Palestinian Islamist movement was progressing towards a deal involving the decommissioning of its weapons.
On his Truth Social page, Trump said: “Today, the Board of Peace reached a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza.”
Trump said it was “a monumental step toward lasting peace and security”, adding disarmament would take place in “carefully structured phases”.
He said: “As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilisation Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbours.”
The President thanked mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.
The thorny issue of Hamas’s disarmament has been one of the key sticking points in the advancement of the ceasefire deal that has been in place between Israel and the group since October.
Despite the ceasefire, violence has continued – with Israeli strikes killing at least four people, including two children, on Thursday, according to health officials.
Senior Hamas officials told AFP that the agreement reached with Israel included provisions addressing the group’s weapons and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
One official said: “An agreement has been reached regarding the issue of weapons... Furthermore, an agreement has been reached on a gradual withdrawal of [Israeli forces]”.
The official added the Islamist movement now expected mediators and the Board of Peace to ensure that Israel complied with the terms of the deal.
Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera News agency said Cairo would host a meeting of the Gaza truce mediators, which include Egypt, the US, Qatar and Turkey.
The agency did not specify when the meeting would take place but said it would discuss implementing the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan, a roadmap for which Hamas and Palestinian factions had agreed to.
Under Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, the second phase of the ceasefire was to involve Hamas’ disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.
The plan also provided 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.
A Hamas source told AFP the group was still in the process of making amendments to the proposal.
The source, familiar with the talks, said the group was “awaiting the Israeli response to the amendments we recently submitted to the mediators”.
Regarding the article concerning weapons, the Hamas source said that “some points were removed, and alternatives were proposed”.
An Israeli political source told AFP the proposed deal did not “satisfactorily” address Israeli demands.
The source added: “Israel demands the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and full demilitarisation of the Strip as a precondition for any process.”
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.
– AFP
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