Hamas Agrees to Trump-Brokered Disarmament Deal

Hamas has told The Associated Press that it agrees to disarm under a deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump — a potential breakthrough in the push to end the Gaza war, though one freighted with major implementation hurdles. The agreement, unveiled Friday, also requires Israel to halt its strikes on and withdraw from the enclave, and it leaves open the most divisive question of all: what happens to Hamas’s heavy weapons.

A Stalled Ceasefire Gets a New Push

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. In October 2025, a U.S.-brokered ceasefire and Trump’s 20-point peace plan were signed under the Sharm el-Sheikh Protocol, calling for Hamas to disarm, for an independent Palestinian administration to take over, and for an International Stabilization Force to deploy.

But progress stalled. Israel said everything hinged on Hamas disarming; Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement by continuing regular strikes. Earlier this month, in a sign of the shifting dynamic, Hamas announced it had dissolved its government in Gaza and was preparing to transfer power to a U.S.-backed technical committee.

What the Deal Says

Trump announced the agreement in a post on Truth Social, describing it as “a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the Board of Peace to help the Palestinian people,” as Euronews reported. He said the deal would be implemented in “carefully structured phases,” with Israeli forces withdrawing as disarmament is completed.

The full text, published by AP News, describes a staged roadmap. All weapons held by the Hamas-run police would be transferred to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) upon its entry into the strip. The decommissioning of heavy weapons, military production sites and tunnels would begin only after NCAG’s arrival and the deployment of international forces, and would be linked to a phased Israeli withdrawal. Officials estimate that process could take between 200 and 350 days — a timeline that does not appear in the published text. Weapons will not be handed over to Israel or non-Palestinian parties.

Hamas also said that laying down its heavier weapons is contingent on the creation of a Palestinian state, something Israel’s current government adamantly rejects. A Hamas official and a regional official told AP the gradual process would be supervised by the Palestinian technocratic committee.

The deal’s guarantors are the U.S., Turkey, Egypt and Qatar, and the roadmap invokes UN Security Council Resolution 2803 (2025). A person with knowledge of the situation said Israel is fully involved but is not a signatory to the agreement. An Israeli official, speaking anonymously, insisted there will be no withdrawal before disarmament.

Reactions: Cheers, Caution and Defiance

Trump, speaking at his Cabinet meeting at Camp David, cast the agreement as a product of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, which he said weakened Hamas’s prime backer. “Nobody’s ever thought that would be possible to disarm Hamas,” he said, according to AP’s live coverage. “That shows you how much success we’re having with Iran.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both Israel and Hamas to implement the roadmap “without any questions, skepticism, or determination to undermine it,” warning that the Iran conflict is destabilizing global energy and food markets.

In Israel, the political response was split. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir rejected the deal, writing that a commitment to stop the assassinations of Hamas members “is tantamount to agreeing to Hamas organizing for the next massacre.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas welcomed the agreement but cautioned that “a lot needs to fall in place for this to work,” with verifying Hamas’s compliance posing a “significant challenge.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented publicly. Neil Quilliam, a Middle East expert at Chatham House, said Netanyahu’s silence speaks volumes, noting that with several Cabinet ministers and opposition leaders counseling against the deal, approving it could “scupper his chances of reelection.”

Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told Al Jazeera that the movement will remain “an integral part of the Palestinian national fabric,” adding that the agreement goes beyond weapons to cover an end to hostilities, full Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction. Even so, he made clear the group’s concessions were made “for the sake of our Palestinian people.”

A Sea Change, With High Obstacles

For Hamas, whose founding charter calls for armed resistance and whose arsenal of rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosives lies at the heart of its identity, disarmament would represent a sea change. The staged design of the roadmap reflects the scale of the trust deficit: an International Verification Committee, established by the Board of Peace, must certify each phase before the next can begin.

The political obstacles are no less imposing. Netanyahu’s silence points to the domestic pressure he faces ahead of Israel’s October elections, where opponents accuse him of failing to prevent the Oct. 7 attack. On the Palestinian side, the demand for a credible pathway to statehood clashes with an Israeli government that rejects it — a contradiction that could break the deal before the heavy-weapons phase is ever reached.

The agreement also lands in the middle of a wider storm. Trump credits the war with Iran for forcing the breakthrough, but the conflict has upended energy markets and global food supplies, with the UN chief warning it is “increasingly becoming a driver of instability.”

What’s Next

Implementation timetables are supposed to be prepared within 14 days of all parties approving the roadmap. The immediate questions: Will Israel officially endorse an agreement it did not sign? Can the NCAG enter Gaza, where Israel controls around 60% of the territory, and begin administering a strip where roughly 2 million Palestinians live in tent camps and ruined neighborhoods?

For now, the deal offers the most concrete path yet out of a war that has defied repeated attempts at resolution. Whether it holds will depend less on the text signed in the coming weeks than on whether Hamas can actually give up the arsenal that defines it — and whether Israel’s leaders are willing to pay the political price for peace.