President Trump announced Friday that the Board of Peace, the group he created to oversee his Gaza peace initiative, has reached an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. A senior Hamas official told the BBC that the group has agreed to the board’s plan to completely disarm and that an official statement would be released soon. Israel has yet to comment.
The board, created and led by Trump, said in a statement that the agreement concludes months of “intensive, good faith negotiations” and that its focus is now on implementation. The deal forms part of the second phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire plan, which links the disarmament of Hamas to the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Trump said Israel would withdraw from Gaza “as disarmament is completed” and called the agreement “a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government.” In a Truth Social post, he wrote that “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,” and he thanked the mediating countries Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. He described the deal as “a major milestone in the implementation of the Trump 20-Point Plan.”
The agreement, which the BBC said it has seen, provides for the inventorying and storage of Hamas’s remaining heavy weapons under Palestinian supervision, potentially removing the most significant obstacle to the Trump-backed initiative. US officials said smaller armed groups in Gaza would be disarmed first, before Hamas begins dismantling what they described as its state-like military infrastructure of tunnels, weapons depots and production facilities, a process they acknowledged would take considerably longer. The plan was deliberately built on “zero trust” with verification, meaning neither Hamas nor Israel moves to the next phase until the other has fulfilled its commitments.
The Board of Peace grew out of the Trump 20-Point Plan unveiled in September 2025. Founding members besides the United States include Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, while Britain, France and China have held off joining. The breakthrough follows months of marathon talks in Cairo. Reuters reported that negotiations between mediators and Hamas leaders had made rare progress, although an Israeli official said the proposed terms were not satisfactory, and Israeli media reported opposition to the deal being discussed.
Israel remains highly skeptical of Hamas’s willingness to disarm. The Times of Israel reported, citing an unnamed source, that an Israeli office said the disarmament proposal did not meet Israel’s demands. A US official, asked how hopeful Washington is that Israel will withdraw from Gaza once Hamas disarms, said: “We’re not asking Israel to do anything other than agree to the 20-point plan that they agreed to, initially. And so we’re very confident they will adhere to it.” If Israel decides not to withdraw, Trump would be “very disappointed,” the official said.
In Gaza, the announcement was met with little public enthusiasm, with many Palestinians deeply skeptical after years of failed ceasefires and collapsed agreements. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 1,168 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect last October, and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks over the same period. The war began with Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage; more than 73,290 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
The acceptance marks the first time Hamas has agreed to a disarmament framework, and it follows the group’s election this month of a new leader, Khalil al-Hayya, who replaced Yahya Sinwar after he was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024. Cairo is set to host a meeting “soon” of the Gaza truce mediators, which also include the United States, Qatar and Turkey. Whether the agreement holds will determine if it becomes the first credible step toward ending a war that has lasted nearly three years.
Sources: BBC: Hamas says it has agreed to disarm after Trump announces Board of Peace plan, BBC: If Hamas disarmament plan holds, it could mark first credible step to ending Gaza war, BBC: Live updates on the Gaza disarmament agreement
Author: USA Desk
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