Hamas agrees to deal for disarmament, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza

GAZA CITY

Hamas said on July 31 it agreed to a deal to end the war with Israel that included provisions addressing its weapons and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

Hamas officials told AFP a committee established by Trump's Board of Peace to govern Gaza would oversee the process of storing the Islamist movement's weapons.

The group said it expected mediators and the Board of Peace to ensure Israel complied with the deal's terms, which included Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.

Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 30 that the Board of Peace had reached an agreement on the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, thanking Türkiye, Egypt and Qatar for mediating the talks.

“Today, the Board of Peace reached a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” Trump wrote on social media.

Under the proposed roadmap, Israeli forces would withdraw in stages as weapons were decommissioned.

The International Stabilization Force would work alongside a new Palestinian police force to assume security responsibilities in the enclave.

Civil administration would pass to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a Palestinian technocratic body operating under the transitional framework overseen by the Board of Peace.

Trump described the agreement as a critical step toward Palestinian governance in Gaza and thanked Türkiye, Egypt and Qatar for their mediation.

Hamas negotiating delegation member Ghazi Hamad confirmed that an agreement had emerged from the talks but said implementation would depend on Israel meeting its commitments.

Hamad told Al Jazeera that Hamas would take no step toward disarmament before an Israeli withdrawal.

He said the weapons issue could not be separated from Israel’s pullout and Gaza’s reconstruction, and that a Palestinian body rather than Israel would oversee the process.

His remarks differed from the sequence outlined by Trump, under which Israeli forces would withdraw as disarmament was completed.

U.S. and Board of Peace officials said the roadmap was based on reciprocal steps subject to independent verification, with an implementation timetable still being finalized.

“What the agreement says matters. What happens next matters even more. Implementation and verification have to be real,” said Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, however, disputed claims that all factions had accepted the plan’s wording and said it had reservations.

Israel did not immediately comment on Trump’s announcement.

An Israeli official had earlier said the proposed terms did not meet its demands for Gaza’s full demilitarization.