Hamas confirmed on Friday that it had agreed to a roadmap for disarming armed groups in Gaza, after US President Donald Trump announced the accord a day earlier. The plan links the removal of weapons to a phased Israeli military withdrawal and a transfer of authority to a Palestinian technocratic administration, but Israel had not publicly accepted the agreement by Friday, leaving a major obstacle to implementation.
The agreement is intended to advance the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire reached in October 2025 after two years of war. That phase had stalled over reciprocal demands: Israel said progress depended on Hamas surrendering its weapons, while Hamas accused Israel of breaching the truce through continuing strikes and insisted that withdrawal must accompany disarmament.
According to the published roadmap, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza would preserve civilian institutions and become the only authority permitted to hold or control weapons. Heavy arms, production sites, depots and tunnels would be decommissioned in a gradual, verified process. Personal weapons would fall under Palestinian licensing rules, and other militias, including Hamas rivals, would also have to surrender arms.
An International Stabilization Force would separate Israeli troops from areas controlled by the committee, monitor the ceasefire, train Palestinian police and help protect humanitarian deliveries. Israeli forces would withdraw in phases under a timetable tied to verified demilitarization. The roadmap also says nobody may be forced to leave Gaza and places reconstruction under the joint supervision of the technocratic committee and Trump's Board of Peace.
Important differences remain over sequencing. Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said the group would take no disarmament step before an Israeli withdrawal, while US officials described reciprocal stages in which withdrawal and weapons decommissioning proceed together. Hamas also linked the later surrender of heavy weapons to a path toward Palestinian statehood, which Israel's current government opposes. Independent monitors must certify each stage, and the Israeli withdrawal timetable still requires completion.
The announcement therefore represents a potentially significant diplomatic opening rather than an accomplished settlement. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the development and urged both sides to implement the roadmap without undermining it. Whether it can end repeated violence, permit sustained aid and begin rebuilding Gaza will depend on formal Israeli approval, agreement on the order of steps and verifiable compliance by every armed party.
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