Hamas has agreed to a United States-backed roadmap aimed at ending the war in Gaza, with the plan reportedly involving the group’s disarmament, the transfer of its weapons to a Palestinian governing body and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.
The development was announced after US President Donald Trump said Hamas had accepted a plan for the group’s “complete disarmament”, describing the move as a major step towards establishing a new Palestinian administration in Gaza.
However, Israel has yet to officially endorse the latest agreement. An Israeli political source told AFP that Israeli forces would not withdraw from their current positions unless Hamas carries out what Israel considers a genuine and complete disarmament.
“There will be no withdrawal whatsoever” from the current Israeli lines without genuine disarmament by Hamas, the source said.
The position has also been backed by far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who rejected the agreement, arguing that it could allow Hamas to regroup and prepare for another attack.
Hamas’s weapons have remained one of the most contentious issues in negotiations over the implementation of the ceasefire agreement that has been in place since October.
Under the new roadmap, officials from Hamas said a committee established by Trump’s Board of Peace would oversee the process of storing the group’s weapons. The group said it expected international mediators and the Board of Peace to ensure that Israel also fulfils its obligations under the agreement, including the phased withdrawal of its forces from Gaza.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s negotiating team, said the group was making difficult concessions in an effort to end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.
He said Hamas had accepted the proposed arrangement because of the need to protect the people of Gaza from further killings and displacement.
According to Hamad, Israel would not directly oversee the disarmament process. Instead, the responsibility would be handled by the National Committee for Administration of Gaza, or NCAG.
Israel has repeatedly maintained that Hamas must be fully disarmed and that Gaza must be completely demilitarised before any significant withdrawal of Israeli forces can take place.
The latest announcement has therefore raised questions about how the two sides will reconcile their positions, particularly over the timing of Hamas’s disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal.
The Board of Peace confirmed that Hamas had agreed to a detailed roadmap for implementing the next stages of the Gaza ceasefire.
“Our focus now turns to implementation,” the organisation said in a statement posted on X, adding that the NCAG would soon begin a phased transition towards assuming full authority in Gaza.
Trump said Israeli forces would begin withdrawing once Hamas had been disarmed. He also said an International Stabilisation Force would work alongside a new Palestinian police force to provide security for Gaza’s residents and neighbouring countries.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, described the agreement as the outcome of months of difficult negotiations.
He stressed that the success of the plan would depend heavily on its implementation and verification, adding that the withdrawal of Israeli forces must proceed alongside the decommissioning of Hamas’s weapons.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas welcomed the agreement but cautioned that its success would depend on the commitment of all parties involved.
Kallas said verifying Hamas’s compliance would be a major challenge and stressed that Israel would eventually have to withdraw from Gaza if the plan was to succeed.
Meanwhile, Egypt is expected to host a meeting involving the mediators of the ceasefire agreement, including the United States, Qatar and Turkey. The meeting is expected to focus on the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire roadmap.
A diplomatic source described the agreement as a balanced and practical path forward, involving the decommissioning of all weapons and a gradual transfer of responsibilities to the proposed new Palestinian authorities.
The source said there would be no exceptions regarding weapons or individuals, adding that the roadmap would include the elimination of tunnels, weapons depots and facilities used for weapons production.
A verification mechanism is also expected to be established to monitor compliance by all sides.
Despite the latest development, uncertainty remains over the final details of the agreement. A Hamas source familiar with the negotiations said the group was still waiting for Israel’s response to amendments it had recently submitted to mediators.
The source said the proposed changes focused on two sections of the roadmap, particularly the provisions dealing with weapons. According to the source, some elements of the original proposal were removed, while alternative arrangements were put forward.
The agreement comes as violence continues in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with Palestinian health officials reporting that Israeli strikes killed at least four people, including two children, on Thursday.
The immediate focus is now shifting from negotiations to implementation, with the success of the roadmap likely to depend on whether Hamas can be effectively disarmed, whether Israel agrees to a phased withdrawal and whether the proposed Palestinian governing and security structures can assume responsibility for Gaza.
