Hamas has agreed to surrender its weapons under a U.S.-brokered plan that would see Israeli troops gradually withdraw from Gaza, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.
Trump hailed the agreement as a “historic” breakthrough and a major step towards transferring control of the territory to a new Palestinian administration.
“Today, the Board of Peace reached a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases,” he added. “As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw.”
Under the proposal, Hamas-run police would first hand their weapons to a transitional authority for storage and decommissioning. Heavy weapons would then be surrendered as Israeli troops withdrew, followed by privately held arms and weapons belonging to other militias and clans.
Hamas would also provide details of its weapons, military production facilities and extensive tunnel network. A verification committee would decide when the conditions for each stage had been met.
An international stabilisation force and a new Palestinian police service would eventually assume responsibility for security. Gaza would be governed by a group of Palestinian technocrats overseen by Trump’s U.S.-led Board of Peace.
However, significant uncertainty remains over whether the agreement will be implemented.
Hamas official Ghazi Hamad confirmed that an understanding had been reached but said the terrorist organisation would not surrender its weapons unless Israel fulfilled its obligations.
“The issue of weapons is linked to other issues such as an Israeli withdrawal,” he told Al Jazeera.
Hamad described the agreement as a “difficult decision” and a concession intended to protect Gazans from further death and displacement. Egypt, which helped mediate the talks, cautiously referred to it as a “roadmap.”
Israel, whose forces control around 60% of Gaza, has yet to comment publicly. A U.S. official said the Israeli government remained sceptical that Hamas would honour the agreement.
The deal also requires Israel to end military operations and permit humanitarian assistance to enter the territory.
Negotiations were led by Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey acting as mediators. U.S. officials said efforts to cut off Hamas’s funding had helped force the group towards an agreement.
The plan builds upon Trump’s 20-point Gaza settlement, under which Hamas must relinquish both its weapons and political control before reconstruction can begin.
A ceasefire has formally been in place since October 2025, following two years of war sparked by the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on October 7th, 2023. Violence has nevertheless continued, while Hamas’s refusal to disarm has held up the next stage of the peace process.
