Hamas Agrees to Disarm Under Trump-Backed Gaza Deal as Israel Withholds Formal Approval
Hamas said on Friday that it had agreed to a deal that includes handing over its weapons to a Palestinian governing committee and allowing the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. The announcement marks a new stage in the long-stalled second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan brokered by United States President Donald Trump. Israel has not yet formally accepted the terms, leaving the arrangement politically contested and operationally uncertain.
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Trump said he had an understanding with Israel and described the agreement as a major breakthrough, even as he acknowledged that the process could still face setbacks. He made the remarks while chairing a cabinet meeting at Camp David in Maryland. Hours earlier, Hamas had confirmed its acceptance of what it called the first step in a deal aimed at bringing the war in Gaza to an end.
The proposed arrangement centres on Hamas surrendering its weapons to a Palestinian committee, with the National Committee for Administration of Gaza expected to handle day-to-day governance under the Trump plan. Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas's negotiating team, said the movement was making concessions for the sake of people in the Gaza Strip. He also said the National Committee would be the body responsible for the disarmament process, rather than Israel.
The issue matters because Hamas's weapons have been one of the main obstacles to fully implementing the ceasefire framework. Israel has long insisted on complete disarmament before any wider withdrawal, and a political source cited in the reporting said there would be no pullback from current lines unless Hamas underwent genuine disarmament. That position underlines how far apart the sides remain, despite the latest diplomatic language.
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The announcement also comes against the backdrop of a ceasefire that has been in place since October, but has not fully stopped violence. The reporting said Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least four people on Thursday, including two children, according to health officials. It also said at least 1,214 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began, while the wider war has left at least 73,341 Palestinians dead in the enclave.
The diplomatic effort has involved mediators from Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye and the United States, and Trump has presented the deal as part of a broader 20-point plan. He said the agreement could still go through "ups and downs" because the situation remains complex. Israeli officials, however, have not spoken with one voice, and the lack of a formal government response leaves the next steps unclear.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir rejected the arrangement as unacceptable and said it was tantamount to allowing Hamas to prepare for another attack. The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said Trump would not be disappointed with Israel's eventual response, but he also stressed that any deal would need to ensure Hamas could not use weapons again. Those comments suggest the internal debate in Israel is still unresolved.
What happens next will depend on whether Israel formally accepts the terms, how the mediators define the disarmament process, and whether the proposed withdrawal can be tied to verifiable compliance. It is also unclear how the National Committee for Administration of Gaza would operate in practice and whether it would be able to take control of weapons from Hamas. For now, the agreement remains a significant diplomatic opening, but one that still faces major political and security tests.
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