Trump claims Hamas disarmament deal, but Israel and Hamas swap preconditions that block the path forward

President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that his Board of Peace had reached an agreement for the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, calling it a 'monumental step' toward lasting security. The 15-point roadmap, published by the board, requires Hamas to give up heavy weapons and security responsibilities and commits Israel to a phased retreat from the enclave. But within hours, senior figures on both sides attached preconditions that invert each other, leaving the sequencing deadlock that has stalled the process for months unresolved.

The core impasse

Hamas negotiator Ghazi Hamad told reporters that the group would take no action on disarmament before Israel withdraws.

We will not take any action regarding disarmament before Israel withdraws from the Strip.

A senior Israeli official, briefing anonymously, said there would be no withdrawal from current positions before what Israel determines to be 'the genuine disarmament of Hamas'. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir denounced the agreement as 'unacceptable' and urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject it. A May poll found that 82 percent of Jewish Israeli respondents supported the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in Gaza.

What the roadmap says

The board shared a 15-point text that gives the parties two weeks to define a timetable, which an international verification committee can extend. A copy of the agreement obtained by the Associated Press says police weapons are to be transferred to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza upon its arrival in the enclave. The decommissioning and storage of heavy weapons, military production sites and tunnels is to begin after that arrival and the deployment of an international stabilisation force. When the committee will arrive is unclear because Israel has blocked it from entering. A Board of Peace source put the whole plan at 200 to 350 days; the Financial Times reported that disarmament and the Israeli withdrawal were likely to take as much as a year, if not longer.

Hamas's position

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed on X that the group accepted the deal, conditional on Israeli concessions including an end to hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli troops. Ghazi Hamad separately told the Wall Street Journal that the group had not spoken of disarmament nor of handing over weapons, but of the weapons being catalogued and stored by the technocratic committee. A Hamas source told Reuters that the draft agreement provided for heavy weapons to be stored under the control of a Palestinian administration and not transferred to Israel. L'Express reports that Hamad also ruled out any Israeli participation in the operation.

The group agreed to the deal that was previously announced by US President Donald Trump, which however presupposes Israeli concessions.

Israeli scepticism

The Israeli government issued a statement on Thursday evening, before Trump's announcement, citing an anonymous diplomatic official who said Israel had conveyed its reservations to Tony Blair. Israel demands the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and the complete demilitarisation of the strip as a precondition for any process. The Guardian quoted the official saying the plan under discussion did not answer those demands.

A fund that remains empty

The Board of Peace solicited $1 billion lifetime membership fees from world leaders, its member states pledged $7 billion for a Gaza relief package and Trump promised a further $10 billion in US funding. But in May, four months after the board was set up, the Financial Times reported that the financial fund established by the World Bank had received no money from donors. Permanent membership requires more than $1 billion, though states can join free for at least three years. There are more than 20 founding members besides the United States, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. France and Spain have said they will not join, arguing that the charter raises questions about international law and respect for the United Nations. Under the charter Trump holds the chairmanship until he resigns it; a US official said he could keep it after leaving the presidency.

What happens next

Egypt, which is hosting the negotiations, endorsed the roadmap in a statement without confirming in writing that Hamas would disarm. A further meeting is now meant to discuss implementation mechanisms. At least 1,214 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the October 2025 ceasefire was announced, according to the territory's health ministry, whose figures the United Nations considers reliable. The Israeli army says it has lost five soldiers there over the same period, while Reuters reports four. Israel controls more than 60 percent of the territory, and Netanyahu has ordered the army to take 70 percent.