Palestinians gather inside a damaged home during the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on October 14, 2025.
Ramadan Abed | Reuters
A Hamas official has said any deal requiring the group’s “complete disarmament” in Gaza would depend first on the United States and Israel fulfilling commitments they have previously made.
The remarks followed President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S.-led Board of Peace had secured an agreement aimed at disarming Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza. Trump described the move as a major advance in carrying out his 20-point Gaza peace plan, which seeks to end the war and establish a new Palestinian governing authority.
“This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY,” Trump posted Thursday on Truth Social. He said Israeli troops would pull out of Gaza “as disarmament is completed,” while an International Stabilization Force would help a newly formed Palestinian police force maintain security across the territory.
In comments to Reuters on Friday, Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said the group would not lay down its weapons unless Israel halted its military operations in Gaza, allowed more humanitarian aid and commercial goods to enter, and withdrew its forces in line with a ceasefire agreement reached last year.
“We insisted to the mediators that Israel must abide by the agreement,” Hamad said.
Should the plan move forward, it could represent a significant turning point in Trump’s Gaza peace initiative and open the door to rebuilding the heavily damaged enclave.
Disarming Hamas has been the central obstacle in the second phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which also covers Gaza’s reconstruction. Hamas and Israel signed on to Trump’s ceasefire deal last October, and the Board of Peace was established to oversee demilitarization, deploy a multinational stabilization force and secure an Israeli withdrawal.
Talks stalled for months as Hamas attached extensive conditions to giving up its arsenal, and the group argued in May that any handover of weapons must be tied to a framework culminating in Palestinian statehood.
Israel has not responded to Trump’s announcement. CNBC has reached out to Hamas, and the governments of Qatar, Egypt and Israel for comment.
The roadmap discussed in Cairo would transfer authority in phases to the U.S.-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza under the principle of “one authority, one law, one weapon,” including the elimination of tunnels, arms stockpiles, and weapons production facilities.
Trump also thanked the mediators and said the threat that emerged from Gaza on Oct. 7 “will NOT be allowed to rebuild.”
