Hamas has not yet agreed to disarm under the Trump administration’s 20-point Gaza peace plan as negotiations continue over guarantees, Israeli withdrawal, and the role of the ISF.
While attention has focused on Iran and Lebanon, the situation in Gaza and the question of Hamas’s demilitarization have been pushed to the sidelines, even as the second phase of the Gaza peace plan has centered on disarmament, technocratic governance, and reconstruction. In recent weeks, Nickolay Mladenov, director-general of the Board of Peace, and other senior officials have been engaged in intensive negotiations over Hamas’s disarmament and the continuation of the Trump administration’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza.
Two sources told The Jerusalem Post this week that Hamas has not agreed to the plan and that significant gaps remain, although talks are ongoing amid broader debate over the future of Hamas’s weapons and the structure of postwar Gaza. n a conversation with the Post, Dr. Bishara Bahbah, a prominent Palestinian-American scholar, former mediator in the hostage deal talks, and board member of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, discussed the chances of Hamas accepting the plan as international actors continue to examine how Gaza could be stabilized after the war.
According to Bahbah, who maintains regular contact with various stakeholders in the region, the situation on the ground is defined by a near-total lack of trust. Bahbah said Hamas leaders have indicated a willingness to hand over heavy equipment and, eventually, smaller arms, provided that what he described as their “paramount fears” are addressed. (Read More)
