Trump’s Board of Peace Announces Hamas Disarmament Deal, but Key Details Remain Unclear

What was announced

President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the Board of Peace (BoP), an international body he created and leads, had reached an agreement with Hamas for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. Writing on Truth Social, Trump called it “a monumental step toward ending the fighting” and “a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government.” He said Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza “as disarmament is completed,” and thanked Egypt, Qatar and Turkey for their mediation. A senior Hamas official confirmed to the BBC that the group had agreed to the framework, with an official Hamas statement expected shortly afterward. As of the reporting, Israel had not officially responded.

The substance of the deal

According to details reported by the BBC and the Guardian, the agreement followed months of difficult negotiations in Cairo and forms part of the second phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire, alongside Israeli troop withdrawal and Gaza’s reconstruction. A 14-point roadmap posted by the Board of Peace calls for Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian factions to halt all military operations and establish an international verification committee (IVC). It sets a 14-day window after all parties accept the roadmap to work out a timetable and implementation mechanisms.

Under the plan, Gaza’s administration would pass to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a panel of Palestinian technocrats set up by the BoP in January that has been waiting in Cairo to take charge. The NCAG, backed by a newly trained Palestinian police force and an International Stabilisation Force (ISF), would assume administrative and security functions. This would enable what the Guardian describes as a process to “decommission and store heavy weapons, military production sites, weapons depots and tunnels.” Disarmament is described as “gradual, sequential and time-bound,” explicitly linked to a phased Israeli withdrawal from areas it currently controls. The ISF would operate as a buffer between NCAG-run zones and Israeli-controlled areas, while the NCAG’s police handle internal security.

A key sticking point resolved in negotiations, per the BBC, was language: Hamas insisted on “inventorying and storing” its weapons under Palestinian oversight rather than handing them directly to Israel. Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters (via the Guardian’s live blog) that Hamas would hand its weapons to the NCAG specifically, and that disarmament remains contingent on Israeli troop withdrawal and on the NCAG and international force entering Gaza to dismantle Israeli-backed militias operating there.

Reactions and skepticism

Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat serving as the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, said agreement had been reached on decommissioning weapons and a civilian transition, but stressed that “what happens next matters even more,” calling for genuine implementation and verification. The Guardian notes that an unnamed Israeli far-right minister dismissed the deal, saying the “only solution” was “encouraging emigration and destroying Hamas,” reflecting continued skepticism within the Israeli government. Israel has previously cited Hamas’s failure to disarm as justification for continued strikes, a refusal to permit reconstruction, and its forces’ gradual advance beyond the October ceasefire line.

A US official briefing reporters said Washington was not asking anything of Israel beyond the 20-point plan it originally accepted, and expressed confidence Israel would comply, though acknowledged Trump would be “very disappointed” if Israel declined to withdraw. The BBC also reports that in Gaza itself, the announcement drew little public enthusiasm; residents, weary after repeated collapsed ceasefires, said they cared less about negotiation details than whether the deal would truly end the war, allow displaced families to return, and bring lasting relief.

How coverage compares

The BBC provides the most granular detail on negotiating history, including the role of newly elected Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya and the internal Hamas debate over storage versus surrender of weapons. The Guardian offers the fullest breakdown of the 14-point roadmap’s mechanics and includes the sharp Israeli far-right rejection, framing continued Israeli distrust as a central obstacle. France24 and Al Jazeera flagged the story prominently in live coverage and video reports but the specific article text was not available for this synthesis. All outlets agree on the core facts: Trump/the Board of Peace announced a disarmament agreement; Hamas confirmed acceptance; Israel has not formally responded; and implementation, not just agreement, will determine whether the deal holds.

Why it matters

If implemented, this would mark the first concrete step in nearly three years of war toward resolving the disarmament dispute that has stalled the broader ceasefire and reconstruction process outlined in Trump’s 20-point plan. The Board of Peace, whose founding members include the US, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE, has expanded its stated mission beyond Gaza toward general “international peace-building,” even as the UK, France and China have withheld formal participation over concerns about international law and the UN’s role. With Israel’s position still unstated and past agreements having repeatedly collapsed, both Palestinian residents and diplomats caution that the announcement is only a framework — its real test lies in whether weapons are actually decommissioned, troops withdrawn, and a functioning Palestinian administration established on the ground.

Sources

• The Guardian World
• France24
• Al Jazeera
• BBC World
• France24 (2)
• BBC World (2)
• The Guardian World (2)
• France24 (3)

Featured photo: Mark Taylor from Rockville, USA via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)