Washington, Jul 31: President Donald Trump said that a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, but many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remained to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory. Neither Hamas nor Israel gave immediate indication that they had agreed.
The White House announcement on Thursday comes nine months after a US-brokered ceasefire was signed. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas had largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.
“The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases,” Trump said on social media. “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 neighbours.”
Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan calls on the Iran-backed militant group to surrender its weapons and destroy its vast network of tunnels. It also envisions Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza, the arrival of a new technocratic Palestinian government, deployment of an international security force and the rebuilding of the battered Palestinian enclave after more than two years of war.
But Hamas had insisted on implementing the first phase before moving to discuss its weapons. The group’s founding charter calls for armed resistance against Israel, and it has been reluctant to give up an arsenal, including rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosives, that lies at the heart of its identity.
Hamas announced earlier this month that it had dissolved its government in Gaza and was preparing to transfer power to a technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of the ceasefire deal.
US and Board of Peace officials, describing the deal to reporters on condition of anonymity under guidelines set by the White House, gave an extremely optimistic assessment of the agreement that laid out a scenario very similar to the one described by Trump and his top aides when the Board of Peace, an international body established by Trump to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza, was first formed.
The officials were unable to offer specific timelines for the disarmament of Hamas or other groups that operate in Gaza such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but said the Gaza police force would turn over weapons to the technocratic Board of Peace-backed Gaza administration in the next two weeks.
The Gaza police force, however, does not include the vast majority of Hamas militants and heavy weaponry is not included in that part of the agreement, according to the officials.
Instead, the surrender of heavy weapons and the decommissioning of Hamas tunnels and other infrastructure are to come later in a process that could take between 200 and 350 days, a Board of Peace official said.
A US official said that Israel, which has been deeply skeptical about Hamas’ willingness to give up its guns or relinquish at least behind-the-scenes control of Gaza, had been consulted at every step of the negotiation.
However, the official said Israel was not being asked to do anything more than what it had initially committed to when it agreed to Trump’s 20-point plan, which essentially involves withdrawing its forces from Gaza and committing to ending airstrikes on the territory.
Israel’s UN Mission said it had no immediate comment.
The official added that Hamas sponsor Iran remains a wildcard in the equation because although it counselled Hamas members not to accept a deal, it is also not in a position to offer the group much support because it is preoccupied with the conflict with the United States.
The war in Gaza began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Israel’s military now controls more than half of Gaza, leaving Palestinians confined to squalid tent camps and heavily damaged urban neighbourhoods. (AP)
