Trump says Hamas agreement reached on disarmament and Israeli withdrawal, but challenges persist

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that a deal has been reached for Hamas to surrender its weapons and for Israeli troops to withdraw from Gaza, but he said numerous hurdles and extended timelines still need to be addressed. The announcement follows a U.S.-brokered ceasefire signed nine months earlier that has stalled over the second phase of implementation, which includes Hamas disarmament and Gaza reconstruction.

Trump said the agreement would be carried out in "carefully structured phases," adding that once disarmament is completed Israeli forces would pull back and an International Stabilization Force would cooperate with a new Palestinian police force to maintain security. His 20-point ceasefire plan calls for Hamas to destroy its tunnel network, for a technocratic Palestinian government to take power, and for an international security contingent to be deployed while reconstruction proceeds.

A Hamas official later confirmed that an agreement on disarmament had been reached, though Israel has not publicly confirmed its position. U.S. and Board of Peace officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the deal as optimistic but were unable to provide specific dates for the disarmament of Hamas or other groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They said the Gaza police force would hand over weapons to the Board-backed administration within two weeks, while the surrender of heavy weapons and tunnel decommissioning could take 200 to 350 days.

"Trump would be very, very disappointed if Israel didn’t adhere to the agreement," a U.S. official said, adding that Israel had been consulted throughout the negotiations but remains skeptical about Hamas’s willingness to give up its arms.

Israel’s U.N. mission declined to comment, and officials noted that Iran, while urging Hamas not to accept a deal, is preoccupied with its own conflict with the United States and therefore limited in its ability to support Hamas.

Hamas earlier announced the dissolution of its Gaza government and preparation to transfer authority to a technical committee backed by the United Nations, a step it said was part of the ceasefire arrangement. The Gaza conflict, which began after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, has resulted in more than 73,000 Palestinian deaths, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and left many residents in tent camps amid extensive urban damage.