President Donald Trump has announced a U.S.-brokered deal for Hamas to completely disarm and Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza, but Hamas says it will only hand over its weapons after Israel meets its commitments.
A senior Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad, said the group will not take any steps toward disarmament before Israeli forces withdraw. He said Israel would have no role in the process, which would instead be carried out by a Palestinian national committee. According to the AFP news agency, Hamas sources said a Palestinian technocratic committee established by the Board of Peace to govern Gaza would be "the sole entity" overseeing the management and storage of the group's weapons.
The Board of Peace announced on Friday that Hamas agreed to a detailed framework for implementing the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire, calling it a "historic breakthrough." The agreement, it said, concludes months of negotiations to advance Trump's vision for new governance, security, humanitarian relief, reconstruction and economic recovery in Gaza, as set out in the Comprehensive Peace Plan and U.N. Security Council Resolution 2803.
Hamas reiterated to Reuters that the handover of weapons was contingent on the withdrawal of Israeli forces and an increased flow of aid and goods into the territory.
Israel has not officially commented on the deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said Israeli forces will not leave Gaza, and in May he said Israel controlled 60 percent of the territory and planned to expand its control to 70 percent.
The ceasefire took effect in October last year, nine months after it was signed under U.S. brokerage. Hamas has largely abided by the agreement, while Israel has continued a bombing campaign that, according to the reports, has killed more than a thousand Palestinians.