Trump Announces Hamas Deal to Disarm   07/31 06:23

   President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal has been reached for Hamas 
to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, but many hurdles, 
conditions and long timelines remained to wind down the war in the Palestinian 
territory.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal has been 
reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, but 
many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remained to wind down the war in 
the Palestinian territory.

   The White House announcement comes nine months after a U.S.-brokered 
ceasefire was signed. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas had largely 
deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the 
disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.

   "The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases," Trump 
said on social media. "As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will 
withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new 
Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its 
residents and its neighbors."

   Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan calls on the militant group to surrender its 
weapons and destroy its vast network of tunnels. It also envisions Israeli 
forces withdrawing from Gaza, the arrival of a new technocratic Palestinian 
government, deployment of an international security force and the rebuilding of 
the battered Palestinian enclave.

   Trump announced what he said was an agreement to realize one of the most 
difficult portions of the Gaza ceasefire while negotiations have stalled and 
military attacks have escalated in the war that the U.S. and Israel in February 
launched against Iran, a key sponsor of Hamas.

   On Friday, a Hamas official said they have reached an agreement on 
disarmament, the most crucial part of the ceasefire deal. Israel didn't give an 
indication that they had agreed.

   Officials offer long or unspecific timelines for Hamas to disarm

   U.S. and Board of Peace officials, describing the deal to reporters on 
condition of anonymity under guidelines set by the White House, gave an 
extremely optimistic assessment of the agreement that laid out a scenario very 
similar to the one described by Trump and his top aides when the Board of 
Peace, an international body established by Trump to oversee the ceasefire in 
Gaza, was first formed.

   The officials were unable to offer specific timelines for the disarmament of 
Hamas or other groups that operate in Gaza, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, 
but said the Gaza police force would turn over weapons to the technocratic 
Board of Peace-backed Gaza administration in the next two weeks.

   The Gaza police force, however, does not include the vast majority of Hamas 
militants and heavy weaponry is not included in that part of the agreement, 
according to the officials.

   Instead, the surrender of heavy weapons and the decommissioning of Hamas 
tunnels and other infrastructure are to come later in a process that could take 
between 200 and 350 days, a Board of Peace official said.

   Israel has not responded but has been deeply skeptical

   A U.S. official said Israel, which has been deeply skeptical about Hamas' 
willingness to give up its guns or relinquish at least behind-the-scenes 
control of Gaza, had been consulted at every step of the negotiation.

   However, the official said Israel was not being asked to do anything more 
than what it had initially committed to when it agreed to Trump's 20-point 
plan, which essentially involves withdrawing its forces from Gaza and 
committing to ending airstrikes on the territory.

   The official said Trump would be "very, very disappointed" if Israel didn't 
adhere to the agreement. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 
met at the White House on Tuesday, but neither said much about what was 
discussed in their first face-to-face meeting since launching the war against 
Iran.

   Israel's U.N. Mission said it had no immediate comment.

   The official added that Iran remains a wildcard in the equation because 
although it counseled Hamas members not to accept a deal, it is also not in a 
position to offer the group much support because it is preoccupied with the 
conflict with the United States.

   Hamas previously had insisted on implementing the first phase of the 
ceasefire before moving to discuss its weapons. The group's founding charter 
calls for armed resistance against Israel, and it has been reluctant to give up 
an arsenal, including rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosives, that lies at 
the heart of its identity.

   Hamas announced earlier this month, however, that it had dissolved its 
government in Gaza and was preparing to transfer power to a technical committee 
backed by the United Nations as part of the ceasefire deal.

   The war in Gaza began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 
7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel's 
retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, 
including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza's Health Ministry said.

   Israel's military now controls more than half of Gaza, leaving Palestinians 
confined to squalid tent camps and heavily damaged urban neighborhoods.