Kenneth Glad
The proposal has been presented as a diplomatic breakthrough, but its central conditions remain contested. Negotiators have yet to settle how weapons, troops and political authority would be handled.
The American President Donald Trump says negotiators have reached an agreement intended to lead to Hamas’s disarmament and a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but the two sides remain divided over which must happen first.
Hamas says progress on surrendering weapons must be linked to an Israeli pullback. Israel insists that any further withdrawal depends on complete demilitarisation.
The sequencing could determine whether negotiations advance. Acting first would mean surrendering leverage without certainty that the other side would meet its commitments.
The dispute concerns the second stage of a US-brokered ceasefire. Trump’s wider plan includes dismantling tunnels, transferring authority to a Palestinian technical committee, deploying an international security force and rebuilding Gaza.
Each side sets conditions
“We will not take any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel’s withdrawal from the Strip,” Hamas negotiator Ghazi Hamad told Al Jazeera.
Reuters, cited by The Guardian, reported that an Israeli official considered the terms insufficient. Israel was demanding the removal of weapons from Gaza and full demilitarisation before further withdrawal.
A US official said Israel was “very sceptical that Hamas will disarm”. The official warned that Trump would be “very, very disappointed” if Israel failed to observe the proposed deal.
Trump said a new Palestinian administration would work with the Board of Peace, a body envisaged in his proposal to support Gaza’s political transition. It remains unclear what authority the board would hold or who would verify that weapons had been surrendered.
No timetable for disarmament
Hamas has announced the dissolution of its governing bodies in Gaza and says it is preparing to transfer administrative authority to a UN-backed technocratic committee.
US and Board of Peace officials cited by The Guardian estimated that disarming Hamas and other armed groups could take between 200 and 350 days.
According to the British newspaper, Agence France-Presse quoted Hamad as saying detailed negotiations might require at least two weeks, with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey expected to act as mediators.
Local medical officials told Reuters that Israeli strikes killed at least six Palestinians on Thursday, including two children. The Guardian reported that Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intended to expand the area under Israeli control to 70 percent of the territory.
The talks still hinge on the same unresolved question: Whether Hamas gives up its weapons before Israeli forces withdraw or as they pull back.
Sources: The Guardian, including its citations of Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse; Al Jazeera
