The Board of Peace reached an agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza, US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday night in a post to Truth Social.
“Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY,” Trump wrote.
He added that the agreement marks 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.”
“At the same time, Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks.”
According to Trump, the agreement will be carried out in “carefully structured phases.”
As Hamas disarms, Trump said in his post, the IDF will withdraw from the Gaza Strip and International Stabilization Force (ISF) will begin to work with “a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.”
Trump thanked Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey and his “outstanding team” for their efforts as mediators.
“The threat that emerged from Gaza on October 7 will NOT be allowed to rebuild!” Trump wrote. “Under this agreement, Gaza will finally be in the hands of a new Palestinian government that serves its PEOPLE.”
Hamas, Palestinian factions agree to entire outline for first time
Senior White House Board of Peace officials told The Jerusalem Post that “Hamas had a lot of concerns. It took months of delicate negotiations to bring us to this breakthrough and we will move in the coming weeks to advance its implementation.”
“We spoke with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” the officials went on. “We wanted to cut off the transfer of funds directly to Hamas.”
The officials added that “there was intensive planning every day to create a successful Gaza, we raised funds, soldiers for the international stabilization force, we trained local Palestinian forces to take the reins from Hamas.”
“This is an amazing historic step, with the aim that all the tunnels will be eliminated, the weapons will be collected and we will be engaged in building houses and apartments and not terrorism against Israel.”
“We worked with Israel the whole time, they are skeptical that Hamas will disarm, but not much they can do except see it happen, Israel signed, Hamas signed, there is a commitment here,” senior officials told the Post. “This is a historic breakthrough.
“We started with the 20-point plan,” they said. “We moved to complex negotiations and we heard from day one about the absolute lack of trust. So we built it on a foundation of zero trust alongside verification and assurance.”
“For the first time, Hamas and the Palestinian factions agreed to accept the entire outline and the path to implementing it,” a Board of Peace official told the Post.
Israel demands full Hamas disarmament as withdrawal condition
Earlier on Thursday, a diplomatic source told the Post that Israel has demanded the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and the full demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, as a precondition for any withdrawal process.
The 15-point document under discussion does not adequately address these demands, and Israel conveyed its reservations on the matter to former UK prime minister Tony Blair, who is serving as an envoy.
A separate diplomatic source told the Post that there “will be no exceptions for certain weapons or certain people. One authority, one law, one weapon.”
According to an Axios report from earlier on Thursday, under the agreement, the IDF would withdraw back to the Yellow Line, where it was positioned following last October’s ceasefire. Any further withdrawal would only occur after Hamas’s complete disarmament.
Axios added that Israel would also halt assassinations of Hamas members in the Gaza Strip, unless in the occasion of an imminent threat.
This is a developing story.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.
