Hamas says it will not disarm in Gaza until Israel honors its earlier ceasefire commitments, after President Donald Trump said the U.S.-led Board of Peace reached a disarmament deal. Israel has not responded to the announcement, and CNBC has sought comment from Hamas, Qatar, Egypt and Israel.
Hamas will not hand over its weapons in Gaza until Israel stops its attacks on the territory, increases the flow of aid and goods, and pulls back its forces under a ceasefire agreement reached last year, a Hamas official told Reuters on Friday. The statement pushes back against Trump's announcement that a disarmament agreement had already been struck.
Hamas ties disarmament to Israel's compliance
Trump said on Thursday that the U.S.-led Board of Peace reached an agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, calling it a breakthrough in implementing his 20-point plan to end the war and install a new Palestinian government. He wrote on Truth Social that Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza as disarmament is completed, with an International Stabilization Force working alongside a new Palestinian police force to secure the territory.
But Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told Reuters the group's position remains conditional on Israel meeting its own obligations first. According to Reuters, he said: "We insisted to the mediators that Israel must abide by the agreement." Israel has not commented on Trump's announcement, and CNBC has reached out to Hamas and the governments of Qatar, Egypt and Israel for comment.
A stalled roadmap moves back into focus
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 set up 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. In May, the group argued that any handover of weapons must be tied to a framework culminating in Palestinian statehood.
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 involved and said the threat that emerged from Gaza on Oct. 7 will not be allowed to rebuild.
Source: CNBC
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