Hamas Accepts Trump Gaza Plan, Israel Yet to Endorse Deal
GAZA CITY-Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to a U.S.-backed proposal to end the war in Gaza, accepting a framework that includes the phased handover of its weapons to a Palestinian technocratic governing body and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, while Israel had not immediately endorsed the agreement.
The announcement follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration that his Board of Peace had reached what he described as a historic agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. Trump said the arrangement would pave the way for a new Palestinian administration, with Israeli troops withdrawing in stages as an international stabilization mission and a new Palestinian police force assume security responsibilities.
Hamas said it had accepted the proposal after months of negotiations involving international mediators. The group said the agreement provides for its weapons to be placed under the supervision of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a technocratic Palestinian body envisioned to govern the territory during a transitional period.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s negotiating team, said the movement had agreed to significant concessions to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in Gaza.
“We are making concessions for the sake of our people in the Gaza Strip, to save them from killing and displacement,” Hamad said.
He said Israel would not oversee the disarmament process, adding that responsibility for handling the weapons would rest with the NCAG under the terms of the agreement.
Hamas also said it expected the mediators and Trump’s Board of Peace to ensure Israel fulfilled its obligations, particularly the phased withdrawal of its military forces from Gaza as implementation progressed.
Israel did not immediately respond publicly to Hamas’s announcement. However, an Israeli political source told AFP before Hamas confirmed its acceptance that the proposed framework did not adequately satisfy Israel’s long-standing demand for the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
The same source said Gaza was not discussed during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump in Washington earlier this week.
The future of Hamas’s military wing has remained one of the principal obstacles to advancing the ceasefire that has been in effect since October. Despite the truce, violence has continued, with Gaza health officials reporting that Israeli strikes killed at least four people, including two children, on Thursday.
The Board of Peace said on X that Hamas had accepted a detailed roadmap governing the next stages of the ceasefire and that attention would now shift toward implementation. It said the NCAG would soon begin a phased transition toward assuming full administrative authority in Gaza.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, said the agreement was the result of months of difficult negotiations but stressed that implementation would determine its success.
He said Israeli withdrawals and the decommissioning of weapons would need to proceed in parallel under a credible verification mechanism.
According to Trump’s proposal, the International Stabilization Force would deploy in Gaza after the disarmament process begins, helping monitor the ceasefire, facilitate humanitarian assistance and support the newly established Palestinian police force while Israeli troops withdraw in stages.
Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera News reported that mediators from Egypt, the United States, Qatar and Turkiye are expected to meet in Cairo to discuss implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire framework.
The proposed roadmap envisions the NCAG taking over civilian governance, reconstruction efforts and internal security, while all weapons held by armed factions are gradually transferred under its authority as part of a monitored and verified transition process.
