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United States President Donald Trump announced on July 30 that the Board of Peace had reached an agreement on the “complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza.”
The agreement was inked earlier that day between negotiators from Hamas, the Board of Peace and mediating countries Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, a source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office swiftly issued a statement saying the Board of Peace’s 15-point disarmament proposal did not meet Israeli demands for Gaza’s complete demilitarization, leaving it unclear how the agreement would proceed.
Trump hailed the deal on Truth Social as “a major milestone in the implementation of the Trump 20-Point Plan,” saying that the agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases. ”
“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,” the U.S. president added.
“The threat that emerged from Gaza on October 7 will NOT be allowed to rebuild!” he added. “Under this agreement, Gaza will finally be in the hands of a new Palestinian government that serves its people.”
The Board of Peace, in its own statement, said that “for the first time, Hamas officially has committed to an actionable plan for relinquishing all its weapons, which will be followed by Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.”
The panel said its focus “now turns to implementation,” working closely with the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) toward a phased transition backed by the International Stabilization Force (ISF).
The Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, said in his own statement: “Ahead of us is a Gaza rebuilt, governed by Palestinians and at peace with Israel an a political horizon to a meaningful resolution the Israeli Palestinian conflict.”
Two Hamas officials, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed the agreement, saying it included provisions addressing the group’s arsenal and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip.
“An agreement has been reached regarding the issue of weapons… Furthermore, an agreement has been reached on a gradual withdrawal of (Israeli forces)” from the Strip, one Hamas official said, adding that the group expects mediators and the Board of Peace to ensure Israel complies with the deal’s terms.
One of the officials also said a Palestinian technocratic committee would oversee the “cataloging and storage of weapons.”
Separately, a Board of Peace official told The Times of Israel that Hamas’s approval of the roadmap triggered a 14-day period for the sides to finalize an implementation timeline. A second Board of Peace official said the potential timelines under discussion for the full disarmament process range from roughly 200 to 350 days.
Once the timeline is locked in, the Board of Peace will begin holding Israel to its own commitments under the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire, the second official said.
Israel was supposed to cease striking Gaza and meet a series of benchmarks on the entry of humanitarian aid, commitments it has largely ignored; the Board of Peace largely refrained from enforcing them as Hamas dragged its feet on the disarmament proposal.
Now that Hamas has consented to the roadmap, Israel is expected to withdraw to the original Yellow Line established in the October 2025 ceasefire, the first Board of Peace official said. That line kept Israel in control of roughly 53% of Gaza, though Israel has since pushed to occupy as much as 70% of the Strip.
Israel will not be required to withdraw beyond the original Yellow Line until Hamas begins handing over its weapons, the first Board of Peace official said, adding that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) will only be allowed to respond to what are deemed imminent threats.
A Board of Peace official said the disarmament process will begin with Hamas handing over the weapons held by its police force to the NCAG. That will be followed by the decommissioning of heavy weapons, arms depots and tunnels in Gaza.
Personal weapons will be handed over last, in line with existing Palestinian Authority law, which allows individuals to carry a gun under strict conditions if properly registered. IDF-backed militias and armed clans in Gaza will also be required to hand over their weapons as part of the process, the official said.
Gradually entering the Strip along with the NCAG will be the ISF and a new Palestinian police force, another Board of Peace official said during a briefing with reporters.
A U.S. official who took part in the briefing said the Board of Peace has secured commitments for 5,000 troops from various countries, though only a handful of representatives from Morocco, Kosovo, Albania and Kazakhstan have actually arrived in Israel for eventual deployment. The four contributing countries will also be talking to other nations about joining the ISF, the Board of Peace official said.
The ISF will be tasked with supporting the training of the new Gaza police force, supporting the decommissioning of weapons and positioning itself between Israeli forces and Palestinians as the IDF gradually withdraws, the official said, noting that training for the police force has already begun, though the vast majority of the 5,000 vetted recruits have yet to leave Gaza amid Israeli foot-dragging.
The Board of Peace official said some current Hamas policemen will be able to serve on the new Gaza force, while others will be assigned to jobs not related to security.
“We don’t want people to lose their livelihood. However, we want to be very clear that as the NCAG comes in… it actually has the freedom to operate and work effectively,” the official said, adding that the NCAG and the new police force will be responsible for handling internal security incidents, maintaining public order and enforcing the law in the Strip.
Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told Al Jazeera that the storage of the group’s weapons is contingent on a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the dismantling of militias backed by Israel.
“We will not take a single step unless we are certain that Israel will also carry out its commitments,” Hamad said.
Hamad added that weapons would be placed in storage only after the commitments of the first phase of the ceasefire are fulfilled — apparently referring to the entry of humanitarian aid — and after the NCAG enters the Strip.
Separately, Hamas said the first step in implementing the agreement must be a commitment from Israel to stop killing Palestinians and end attacks.
Despite the Board of Peace’s announcement, Israeli officials continued to publicly reject the plan. A “senior Israeli official” told reporters that “in response to various publications this morning about political progress in the Gaza Strip, Israel has reiterated that there will be no IDF withdrawal from the current Yellow Line without the genuine disarmament of Hamas.”
The same official had issued a statement a day earlier more explicitly rejecting the Board of Peace’s proposal, asserting that it did not meet Israel’s demands for Hamas’s full disarmament, which the official said was a precondition for IDF withdrawal.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went further, calling the deal “unacceptable” in a post on Telegram.
“After the October 7 massacre, the blood of every Hamas member is on his head, and therefore a commitment to stop the assassinations of the terrorist organization’s murderers is tantamount to agreeing to Hamas organizing for the next massacre,” he wrote, adding: “The assassinations in Gaza must continue, the encouragement of (Palestinian) emigration (from the Strip) must happen. Israel must win.”
Overall, Trump’s announcement is unlikely to materialize as intended. Although a clear plan is in place, Israel is unlikely to follow through on its commitments. In fact, several Israeli strikes have hit Gaza since the announcement. If this continues, Hamas will not disarm.
Israel appears to be buying time to keep its focus on Iran. The IDF is unlikely to withdraw, and once the conflict with the Islamic Republic ends, Gaza could come under attack again.
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