Trump says Gaza deal reached to disarm Hamas, open path for Israeli withdrawal
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal has been reached to disarm Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, a move he cast
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal has been reached to disarm Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, a move he cast as a breakthrough that could clear the way for an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave. Hamas said Friday it had agreed to a deal that includes de-weaponisation and a gradual pullback of Israeli forces, though Israel has yet to publicly endorse the plan.
The announcement lands at a fragile moment. Nine months after a US-brokered ceasefire took effect, the war has remained stuck on the hardest questions: Hamas’ military future, Israel’s exit from Gaza and who will govern the strip after the fighting.
Phased rollout, no timeline
Trump said the deal would be carried out in “carefully structured phases,” but he gave no timeline for completion. He described the agreement as a “historic” and “monumental” step and said the Board of Peace had reached the deal after months of negotiations.
According to the plan laid out in the statements, Hamas and other armed factions would give up their weapons while Israeli forces withdraw in parallel. Trump said disarmament would move alongside the arrival of an International Stabilization Force and a new Palestinian police force that would take responsibility for security in Gaza.
The president also said the arrangement was a step toward Gaza being governed by a new Palestinian government that would work closely with the Board of Peace. He said Israel would have the security it deserves while Gaza is rebuilt.
Questions over implementation
Details remain thin. Israel has not commented publicly, and the sources provided say many implementation points are still unresolved. Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s negotiating team, confirmed the agreement but said implementation depends on Israel meeting its own obligations, including withdrawal and reconstruction progress.
Analysts quoted by Australian broadcaster ABC expressed scepticism that Hamas would willingly surrender its weapons or that Israel would fully withdraw from Gaza. Those doubts linger over a plan that, on paper, ties each side’s next move to the other’s compliance.
The Board of Peace, created and led by Trump, said the deal follows months of “intensive, good faith negotiations” and now shifts into the implementation phase. Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the agreement would help Gaza move toward a new Palestinian administration, while security would be handled by the stabilization force and local police.
“As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw,” Trump said, adding that the arrangement was a “critical step” toward Gaza being governed by a new Palestinian government.
