Trump tries to pressure Israel to accept deal tying Hamas disarmament to Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip

Donald Trump in Hagerstown, Maryland, United States, July 31, 2026. JACQUELYN MARTIN/AP It appeared that Donald Trump had lost interest in the issue, focusing instead on the grinding war in Iran. The 2025 peace plan bearing his name, which he claimed would end "a three-thousand-year nightmare" between Israel and the Gaza Strip, had been languishing for months. It was almost forgotten. But when the US president announced on Thursday, July 30, that he had secured a "historic" agreement on Hamas disarmament, it abruptly brought attention back to the enclave, where residents remain under constant Israeli fire. Did Israel only find out about this deal after the fact, without being consulted? Until now, the US had aligned itself with Israel's position during negotiations in Cairo, making Hamas's disarmament a precondition for any progress on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the entry of the National Committee for Administration in Gaza (NCAG), slated to govern the enclave. The new text on the table has marked a significant shift: Washington now seems to put the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces and the dismantling of the Palestinian movement's weapons on an equal footing, with both processes set to advance in parallel. You have 83.09% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.