Trump Says Hamas Has Agreed to Give Up Its Weapons — and Israel Has Not Said a Word

President Trump said Thursday evening that Hamas and his international "Board of Peace" have agreed on the next steps of a Gaza peace deal, including the disarmament of Hamas — a step that has stalled every version of the framework since fighting paused last October.

In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump called it a "HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza," and "a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY." The exact timetable for handing over weapons was not spelled out. U.S. and Board of Peace officials told reporters that Hamas communicated through mediators that it accepted the final text of the plan, including decommissioning its arms, and a senior Hamas official told CBS News' partner network BBC News that the group had agreed. Israel had not publicly commented on the announcement.

Under the plan, Israeli forces would pull back from parts of Gaza as "disarmament is completed," Mr. Trump said, with an International Stabilization Force and a newly built Palestinian police force taking over security. "This agreement is a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the Board of Peace to help the Palestinian people," he wrote. "At the same time, Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks."

The negotiations trace back to the 20-point proposal Mr. Trump put forward last fall to end the war that began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostages. Israel's aerial and ground campaign that followed has killed more than 73,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Negotiators split that framework in two: the first phase, covering hostage releases and a ceasefire, was implemented in October, while the decommissioning of Hamas' weapons and the redeployment of Israeli troops were pushed to a later round. Strikes and militant attacks have continued in the interim.

Officials described a sequence rather than a switch. A transitional authority called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza would hold a monopoly on weapons in the territory, and Hamas would have to give up any role in governance. Police weapons are expected to be surrendered first, to a new police authority that would take those arms, recruit officers and vet existing ones. Heavy weapons, depots and tunnels would be decommissioned afterward, only once both sides are confirmed to be keeping their commitments, and personal weapons would be handled under Palestinian legislation. Israel's withdrawal would come in phases on a timetable still to be finalized.

U.S. and Board of Peace officials acknowledged the agreement took longer than they had hoped and said progress on implementation could come in the next month or two. They were blunt about the foundation it rests on: the proposal assumes there is no trust between Israel and Hamas, so every element is conditional on the other side performing. That skepticism runs deep in Israel's government. When Hamas announced earlier this month that it was dissolving its government so the National Committee could take over, Israeli Defense Minister Gideon Sa'ar called the move a "trick." "As long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates," he wrote.