Hamas has agreed to a new roadmap aimed at ending the war in Gaza, including a plan to surrender its weapons in stages, U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Thursday.
The agreement requires Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza as the disarmament process moves forward. Israel has not publicly confirmed it will accept the terms.
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United States finalized the plan through the U.S. led Board of Peace and International Stabilization Force for Gaza, according to a joint statement from the group. Egypt is expected to host further talks among the four mediating countries to monitor compliance in the coming weeks.
Hamas has said it will not carry out any part of the agreement unless Israel meets its own obligations first.
What We Know So Far
The plan calls for a full inventory of Hamas weapons within 14 days of all parties formally accepting the deal. Extensions to that timeline would require approval from an international verification commission.
A newly formed Palestinian National Committee would oversee and carry out the inventory and storage process. It would be the only body permitted to hold or control weapons inside Gaza, with cooperation from Palestinian factions. No weapons would be transferred to Israel or any other country.
Heavy weapons, military production sites, storage depots and tunnel networks would be targeted first. An international verification commission, the stabilization force and a new Palestinian police unit would monitor the process as Israeli troops pull back in stages tied to verification progress.
Officials briefed on the negotiations said the full disarmament timeline could take between 200 and 300 days. The stabilization force, expected to include roughly 5,000 personnel from several countries, would be led by an American general and would help train the new Palestinian police service.
Since a ceasefire took hold in October 2025, Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians, and aid access into Gaza has remained restricted. Israeli forces have also expanded a military buffer zone inside the territory known as the Yellow Line, a move that experts say may breach the earlier ceasefire terms.
A series of Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza again Friday, killing at least one person and wounding four others, including a child, hospital officials said. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Gaza war began after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 hostages being taken, the Associated Press reported. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including deaths recorded after the ceasefire began, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
What Authorities Are Saying
Trump said the agreement would unfold in structured phases, with Israeli withdrawal tied directly to progress on disarmament. He said the stabilization force would work alongside a new Palestinian police unit to secure Gaza once Hamas steps back.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s negotiating team, said the group would not move forward unless Israel meets its commitments. He added that Israel would have no role in the disarmament process itself, which would fall solely to the Palestinian committee.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the deal the only encouraging development to come out of the region recently. He said it needed to be carried out fully and without interference.
Nikolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s senior representative, said Palestinian officials and residents need real authority to shape their own governance going forward.
Israel has not issued an official response to the new roadmap.
Why This Matters
The agreement marks the most detailed disarmament framework proposed since the October 2025 ceasefire, but it depends on cooperation that has repeatedly broken down before. Continued Israeli strikes during a period technically covered by a ceasefire have deepened distrust among Palestinians in Gaza, and many residents say daily conditions have shown little improvement since the truce began.
The plan also introduces a new and unusual governing structure. A U.S. led Board of Peace, chaired by Trump, would oversee reconstruction funding and long term strategy. A seven member executive board, led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, would help set policy, with expected involvement from Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
That structure has drawn criticism from several governments. France, Spain and Norway have raised concerns that the board’s authority could extend well beyond Gaza’s borders, and some diplomats worry it could sideline the United Nations’ traditional role in the region. Israel remains involved in the process despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued for its prime minister over allegations tied to the war.
Analysts also note that Hamas’s disarmament is explicitly linked to Israeli withdrawal, meaning either side could stall the entire process by delaying its own obligations. Stephen Zunes, who chairs Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco, said Israel has previously reinterpreted ceasefire terms without facing pressure from Washington to comply fully.
The timing also overlaps with Israel’s general election scheduled for October. Several far right parties within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition have opposed any withdrawal from Gaza and have instead pushed for expanded settlements, adding political pressure against full compliance.
What Happens Next
Implementation is set to begin 14 days after every party formally signs on, though Israel’s acceptance remains unconfirmed. Analysts caution that armed factions outside Hamas could still complicate the disarmament timeline, and verification of compliance is expected to be a central point of dispute.
Adam Weinstein of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft said it remains too early to call the agreement a breakthrough, noting that questions over whether Hamas will surrender all of its weapons are likely to persist. Rami Khouri of the American University of Beirut urged caution before treating the announcement as a resolution, pointing to a pattern of unmet commitments in prior rounds of negotiation.
Elsewhere in the region, tensions tied to the broader Iran conflict continued Friday. Kuwait said it intercepted drones fired at its territory, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed further strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia has proposed a 14 nation maritime security alliance in response to disruptions across regional shipping routes, though Oman and the United Arab Emirates have not joined the initiative.
In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces destroyed a tunnel network beneath the historic Beaufort Castle on Friday, a site Israel says was used by Hezbollah. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the operation sent a discouraging signal ahead of renewed negotiations in Rome over a potential Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Reporting drawn from Al Jazeera and The Associated Press.
