The United States has announced that it has reached an agreement with Hamas to disarm and transfer political and military control of Gaza to a Palestinian technical government (the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza). However, the agreement requires Hamas and Israel to take a series of difficult steps over the next seven to eight months.
In a press conference, a US official explained that the Palestinian group would hand over its weapons in exchange for a possible Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. A Hamas member, Ghazi Hamad, confirmed to Al Jazeera that, after “difficult” negotiations, an agreement had been reached, but also stressed that the Palestinian group would not take “any steps regarding disarmament before Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip”. Several Israeli media outlets quoted official Israeli sources as suggesting that Israel is not ready to accept a withdrawal from any part of Gaza until Hamas fully disarms. Donald Trump’s statements on Truth Social also seem to imply that the Israeli withdrawal will only occur after the full disarmament of its opponents.
The US president described the agreement in Truth Social as "a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. A monumental step towards lasting peace and security". Trump spoke of the disarmament of Hamas in several stages, with a gradual Israeli withdrawal to be replaced by an international stabilization force, which would work in cooperation with a new Palestinian police force.
Later in the conference, a US official told reporters that Hamas had accepted this "roadmap", giving its consent through Egyptian mediators after a month of negotiations, which also involved Turkey and Qatar. The official added that it was no different from what Israel had already agreed to almost a year ago in the 20-point plan: "We are not asking Israel to accept anything other than the 20-point plan, which it has been committed to since the beginning, so we are very confident that it will do so. Otherwise, of course, President Trump will be very disappointed." However, he also acknowledged the difficulty of implementing the agreement in practice: "We are trying to do something that seems impossible."
The disarmament of Hamas and the Israeli withdrawal would constitute a significant turning point for Gaza and would pave the way for the reconstruction of the war-torn Strip. However, many questions remain about the implementation of this roadmap. The composition of the Palestinian institutions that will govern Gaza is not yet clear; it is also not known which countries will contribute to the international stabilization force and when this force will be deployed. The Hamas police, which currently administers the Gaza Strip, are expected to hand over their weapons to a new Palestinian police force, trained by the international stabilization force, which will also be tasked with assisting in the disarmament process and will be deployed between the Palestinian-controlled areas and the Israeli forces.
It seems unlikely that, with elections approaching in October, Benjamin Netanyahu will be willing to make any concessions to Hamas. A US official said it would take "200 to 250 days" to implement the disarmament roadmap, but added that the focus would not be on speed but on concrete, verifiable steps that both sides would take to move forward. During the conference, US officials also said that Iran had tried to persuade Hamas not to proceed with the deal, but that the Palestinian group had not followed Tehran's advice.