Trump announces a deal for Hamas to disarm in Gaza, but many hurdles and
uncertainty remain
[July 31, 2026]
By JONATHAN J. COOPER, MATTHEW LEE, FARNOUSH AMIRI and
SAMY MAGDY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal has
been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from
Gaza, but many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remained to wind
down the war in the Palestinian territory.
The White House announcement comes nine months after a U.S.-brokered
ceasefire was signed. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas had largely
deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the
disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.
“The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases,”
Trump said on social media. “As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces
will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with
a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being
safe for its residents and its neighbors.”
Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan calls on the militant group to surrender
its weapons and destroy its vast network of tunnels. It also envisions
Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza, the arrival of a new technocratic
Palestinian government, deployment of an international security force
and the rebuilding of the battered Palestinian enclave.
Trump announced what he said was an agreement to realize one of the most
difficult portions of the Gaza ceasefire while negotiations have stalled
and military attacks have escalated in the war that the U.S. and Israel
in February launched against Iran, a key sponsor of Hamas.
On Friday, a Hamas official said they have reached an agreement on
disarmament, the most crucial part of the ceasefire deal. Israel didn't
give an indication that they had agreed.
Officials offer long or unspecific timelines for Hamas to disarm
U.S. and Board of Peace officials, describing the deal to reporters on
condition of anonymity under guidelines set by the White House, gave an
extremely optimistic assessment of the agreement that laid out a
scenario very similar to the one described by Trump and his top aides
when the Board of Peace, an international body established by Trump to
oversee the ceasefire in Gaza, was first formed.
The officials were unable to offer specific timelines for the
disarmament of Hamas or other groups that operate in Gaza, such as
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but said the Gaza police force would turn
over weapons to the technocratic Board of Peace-backed Gaza
administration in the next two weeks.
The Gaza police force, however, does not include the vast majority of
Hamas militants and heavy weaponry is not included in that part of the
agreement, according to the officials.
Instead, the surrender of heavy weapons and the decommissioning of Hamas
tunnels and other infrastructure are to come later in a process that
could take between 200 and 350 days, a Board of Peace official said.
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Palestinians salvage their belongings from the rubble of a building
and tents destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Thursday,
July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Israel has not responded but has been deeply skeptical
A U.S. official said Israel, which has been deeply skeptical about
Hamas’ willingness to give up its guns or relinquish at least
behind-the-scenes control of Gaza, had been consulted at every step
of the negotiation.
However, the official said Israel was not being asked to do anything
more than what it had initially committed to when it agreed to
Trump’s 20-point plan, which essentially involves withdrawing its
forces from Gaza and committing to ending airstrikes on the
territory.
The official said Trump would be “very, very disappointed” if Israel
didn't adhere to the agreement. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House on Tuesday, but neither
said much about what was discussed in their first face-to-face
meeting since launching the war against Iran.
Israel’s U.N. Mission said it had no immediate comment.
The official added that Iran remains a wildcard in the equation
because although it counseled Hamas members not to accept a deal, it
is also not in a position to offer the group much support because it
is preoccupied with the conflict with the United States.
Hamas previously had insisted on implementing the first phase of the
ceasefire before moving to discuss its weapons. The group’s founding
charter calls for armed resistance against Israel, and it has been
reluctant to give up an arsenal, including rockets, anti-tank
missiles and explosives, that lies at the heart of its identity.
Hamas announced earlier this month, however, that it had dissolved
its government in Gaza and was preparing to transfer power to a
technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of the
ceasefire deal.
The war in Gaza began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel
on Oct. 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken
hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than
73,000 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire,
Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Israel’s military now controls more than half of Gaza, leaving
Palestinians confined to squalid tent camps and heavily damaged
urban neighborhoods.
___
Cooper reported from Phoenix, Amiri from New York and Magdy from
Cairo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer contributed from the
United Nations.
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