Trump announces a breakthrough in Gaza – but there are major caveats. Here’s what we know
By Alejandra Jaramillo, Tal Shalev, Jeremy Diamond, Issy Ronald, CNN
(CNN) — On the face of it, US President Donald Trump’s announcement that Hamas, and all other armed groups in Gaza, have agreed to disarm seems historic.
Hamas has never agreed to a specific disarmament plan before and, if it does come to pass, it would represent a critical step in implementing a lasting peace in Gaza, following a brutal years-long war which has decimated the enclave. But, as in every diplomatic agreement, it is the details and proposed sequencing of steps that matter. And the reactions from Hamas and Israel suggest this process might not be as simple as Trump indicated in a Truth Social post on Thursday.
The “Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” Trump said. As that is completed, “Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza,” he added.
Some cautious optimism was present in the international community and among Gazans who spoke to CNN on Friday. But reaching a lasting peace deal in Gaza comes with significant challenges.
How has Hamas reacted?
On Friday, senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad confirmed to CNN that the group had reached an agreement to disarm, but only if Israel ceases fire, stops all targeted killings in Gaza, withdraws its troops to the so-called “Yellow Line” and allows for a surge of humanitarian aid consistent with the October ceasefire agreement. It also depends on the International Stabilization Force, a proposed temporary, multi-national security force in charge of demilitarizing Gaza, being deployed to the enclave, he said.
The Board of Peace (the group Trump established to help settle conflicts and which is closely aligned with his foreign policy) echoed the need for Hamas’ disarmament to be linked to “an Israeli withdrawal, in phases, from the area under its control in Gaza.”
In an updated peace plan published Friday, the Board of Peace also emphasized that Israel should cease military operations in Gaza “without delay” at the same time as this peace plan is being implemented. Like Trump’s statement, however, the precise sequencing of all this remained unclear.
For Hamad, the Hamas official, “the agreement is a package.” He added: “We will not begin any weapons-related steps until Israel implements these commitments. Frankly, if Israel does not implement them, we will not proceed.”
As well as calling for the Israeli military to first wind down their operations in Gaza, Hamad said the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a Palestinian technocratic committee appointed by the Board of Peace (a group Trump established to help settle conflicts), must also enter and take over governance of the strip.
The NCAG will assume control of weapons belonging to Hamas’ police force in Gaza, Hamad said.
Hamad was adamant that Hamas’ heavy weapons will not be decommissioned or destroyed but instead “stored under the National Committee’s supervision.”
But Hamad reiterated that none of this will happen if Israel does not implement its obligations.
Hamas later said in a statement that disarmament is also contingent on a number of conditions including the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, something that Trump didn’t mention in his announcement and that Israel rejects.
How has Israel reacted?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far remained publicly silent following Trump’s Thursday announcement. But the developments triggered sharp political reactions in Israel, heading into October elections.
While Netanyahu has not issued an official response, hours before Trump’s announcement, an Israeli official rejected key elements of the reported framework, stressing that “complete disarmament” of Hamas remained a precondition for any process. There would be no Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza “yellow line,” the official said, until demilitarization is completed.
The muted response did not extend to Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, who voiced strong opposition to the agreement. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir rejected any agreement reached “through a third party,” insisting the only acceptable outcome remains Hamas’ destruction. Religious Zionist party minister Orit Strouk described the agreement as “dangerous.”
Despite the criticism, Israel has recently advanced elements of the Trump’s Gaza plan. The security cabinet approved on Sunday the deployment of a limited international stabilization force – 200 troops from Morocco and Uganda – to enter a pilot zone in Rafah. But the Israeli official described it as an initial and limited measure, stressing that any further deployment would require specific approval from Israel.
Trump said the US had an “understanding” with Israel to begin implementing a peace deal.
“Israel is very happy about it,” Trump said, adding the country was “very good” in accepting the deal.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said Hamas must “actually” disarm before they can move forward, adding that “cosmetic solutions” will not work for Israel. He told CNN that the sequence of events surrounding disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal of troops to the so-called “yellow line” in Gaza could be discussed in future talks.
An Israeli source familiar with the discussions said Netanyahu is unlikely to publicly oppose the disarmament agreement, as he “calculates that Hamas will ultimately violate its terms and not uphold its commitments.” The source said Netanyahu is unlikely to order a withdrawal from Gaza ahead of October’s elections.
Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, currently Netanyahu’s chief electoral challenger, criticized Netanyahu’s silence, accusing him of concealing the deal from the public, saying it “raises serious questions as to whether Israel is a partner to it, or whether, once again, an agreement is being imposed on Israel without its involvement.”
What further detail has the Trump administration laid out?
Trump would be “very, very disappointed” if Israel does not adhere to their end of the peace plan, according to a US official.
“We’re not asking Israel to do anything other than agree to the 20-point plan that they agreed to initially, and so we’re very confident they will adhere to it,” the official told reporters Thursday night.
US and Board of Peace officials on Thursday described the agreement as the result of months of “very delicate negotiations” that produced a “breakthrough,” where there is an understanding of “what needs to be done,” while cautioning it remains “a conditions-based deal.”
Trump in his post thanked mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, as well as his administration, for helping broker the agreement.
Officials said implementation will take time, with detailed conditions expected to be published within two weeks, adding that movement between phases will occur only after “verified completion of the previous” approved by an implementation verification committee. Visible progress is expected “in the next month or two,” the US official told reporters.
What was the original October ceasefire agreement?
A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect in October last year, two years after Hamas launched its October 7 terror attacks, which killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages to Gaza. More than 68,000 Palestinians were killed and over 170,000 were injured during Israel’s subsequent two-year-long, brutal assault on Gaza.
In that agreement, Israel said its forces would partially withdraw from Gaza to a so-called “yellow line,” which would leave it holding roughly 53% of the enclave, while Hamas pledged to return the remaining hostages. Many of the knottier questions about Gaza’s future governance, disarmament, full Israeli withdrawal and security guarantees were left unresolved in that agreement.
What has happened in Gaza since October?
Since that agreement, there have been few signs of progress. At least 1,214 people have been killed and 3,977 others injured in Gaza by Israeli attacks since the ceasefire deal was signed on October 11. Bodies lie unclaimed in the streets, rats run amok, biting children in their sleep, and much of population remains displaced since so much of Gaza is now in ruins.
Gazans are facing a “dangerous status quo,” Nikolay Mladenov, a former UN official tasked with implementing the deal, warned in May while Israel has further entrenched its occupation of Gaza beyond the “yellow line.” In May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he directed the military to seize control of 70% of Gaza and suggested it could take even more.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Kit Maher, Ibrahim Dahman, Nadeen Ebrahim, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Sana Noor Haq contributed to this report.
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