NewzCAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Friday that it will begin disarming as part of a deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump that also requires Israel to end its strikes and withdraw from Gaza. It marks a potential breakthrough in ending the war, but implementation faces major challenges.Hamas also said that laying down its heavy weapons, which would come later in the process, was contingent on the creation of a Palestinian state, something Israel's current government adamantly rejects.Israel has not officially commented on the deal, which is part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced last October.
That agreement called for Hamas to disarm and hand over power to an independent Palestinian administration. Israel was to withdraw, and an International Stabilization Force was to deploy.But progress stalled, with Israel saying everything hinged on Hamas disarming, and Hamas accusing Israel of violating the agreement by continuing to carry out regular strikes on Gaza.Disarming would represent a sea change for Hamas, whose founding charter calls for armed resistance against Israel, and which sees its arsenal, including rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosives, as lying at the heart of its identity.Israel meanwhile appears unlikely to pull back significant forces or make other concessions ahead of its October elections. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a tough reelection battle, with opponents accusing him of failing to prevent the Oct.
7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.The deal is set to be implemented in stagesIn announcing the latest deal on social media, Trump said it would be carried out in “carefully structured phases.”“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 wrote.A copy of the agreement obtained and verified by The Associated Press said that all weapons held by the Hamas-run police will be transferred to the U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic committee, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, upon its arrival in the enclave. It’s not clear when that would happen since it is contingent on other steps.A process to decommission and store heavy weapons, military production sites and tunnels will begin after the arrival of the Palestinian c… Hamas says it will not disarm in Gaza before Israel withdrawal A senior Hamas official has said that the Palestinian movement will not take any steps toward disarmament before Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza.
Ghazi Hamad told Al Jazeera that Israel would have no role in the disarmament process. Instead, it is set to be carried out by a Palestinian national committee. The armed group has largely abided by a ceasefire agreement that came into effect in October last year, as Israel continues a sustained bombing campaign in violation of the agreement, killing more than a thousand Palestinians and injuring many more.
According to the AFP news agency, Hamas sources said that the Palestinian technocratic committee established by the Board of Peace to govern Gaza will be "the sole entity" overseeing the process of managing and storing the group's weapons. The group agreed to a road map as long as Israel also makes concessions, including ending hostilities and withdrawing its troops from the Palestinian territory CAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Friday that it reached an agreement to disarm, a significant move that could help end the war in Gaza — but one that will face many hurdles and could take a long time to achieve, if at all.The group agreed to a road map as long as Israel also makes concessions, including ending hostilities and withdrawing its troops from the Palestinian territory, a Hamas official and a regional official told The Associated Press.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed in a post on X that the group agreed to the deal.Israel has not commented on the deal, which U.S. President Donald Trump announced hours earlier. It comes nine months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to end the fighting between Israel and the group was signed.That 20-point ceasefire plan calls on the militant group to surrender its weapons and destroy its vast network of tunnels.
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