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Deal Announced, Sequencing Unclear
President Donald Trump said a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and for Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, as Hamas confirmed it will disarm if Israel halts strikes and withdraws from Gaza.
“Hamas said Friday that it will begin disarming”
NBC News reported that Hamas said laying down its heavy weapons would come later and be contingent on the creation of a Palestinian state, which Israel’s current government rejects, while Israel had not officially commented on the deal.
The Associated Press said the roadmap calls for progression from one phase to the following one to be contingent on verified completion of the commitments of the previous phase, with verification by the IVC.
The agreement described in AP’s full text also sets a timetable for preparing phase 2 implementation mechanisms within 14 days after all parties approve the Roadmap, with the NCAG entering the Strip to start assuming responsibilities after that.
NBC News added that the process to decommission and store heavy weapons, military production sites and tunnels is to begin after the arrival of the Palestinian committee and the deployment of international forces, and that it could take between 200 and 350 days.
Hamas Conditions, Israel Pushback
Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told CNBC that an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas in Gaza can only be agreed if the U.S. and Israel honor past commitments, and he said Hamas would not disarm until Israel ended its attacks in Gaza, increased the flow of goods and aid, and pulled back its forces.
CNBC also quoted Trump at Camp David saying, “I have an understanding with Israel,” and Trump added that Israel “helped us” and “they’ve been very good.”
DW reported that Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said the plan to disarm Hamas is “not acceptable” to Israel, and he warned that committing to stop “the eliminations” would be “tantamount to consenting for Hamas to regroup toward the next massacre.”
NPR reported that a senior Hamas official told the outlet that Israel must withdraw from parts of Gaza first, while Trump’s announcement said disarmament would be carried out in carefully structured phases with Israeli forces withdrawing as disarmament is completed.
NBC News said expectations are low that Hamas will actually disarm or that Israel will withdraw, quoting Neil Quilliam of London’s Chatham House: “I think that Netanyahu’s silence speaks volumes.”
Board of Peace, Reconstruction Stakes
The Board of Peace is central to the implementation test described by WJBF, which said the agreement announced by Trump late Thursday could pave the way for ending the latest Israel-Hamas war that broke out on Oct. 7, 2023.
“reconstruction will cost $70 billion”
WJBF reported that the United Nations, World Bank and European Union estimate that reconstruction will cost $70 billion, while it said the Board of Peace’s first meeting in February in Washington included members pledging $7 billion in aid for Gaza.
In AP’s full text of the deal, the NCAG is tasked with governing Gaza in the interim period and maintaining continuity of civilian institutions and public services, including a comprehensive audit of financial and administrative affairs with an amount “no more than $400M USD.”
AP’s roadmap also states that a process to decommission and store heavy weapons, military production sites, depots of weapons, and tunnels shall begin after completing remaining commitments under Sharm Sheikh Protocol, the entry of NCAG and deployment of ISF.
WJBF said Nickolay Mladenov, the director-general of the Board of Peace in Gaza, told reporters on X that “Implementation and verification have to be real” and that “withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning.”
