Hamas Accepts Gaza Disarmament and Israeli Withdrawal Deal
Hamas accepted a Trump-backed deal for total disarmament and Israel's gradual withdrawal from Gaza, though Minister Ben Gvir called it unacceptable.
Hamas stated on Friday, July 31, that it accepted an agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip, which includes its total disarmament and the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli military from Palestinian territory. The announcement revived hopes for lasting peace after nearly three years of conflict, although it generated strong resistance within the Israeli cabinet itself.
An announcement driven from Washington
US President Donald Trump announced that the “Peace Council,” a working group created under his direction, had reached an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas. According to Trump, Israel will withdraw from Gaza “once disarmament is completed” and described the pact as “a crucial step toward the governance of Gaza by a new Palestinian government.”
From Camp David, the president went further in describing the climate between Washington and Tel Aviv: “We have an understanding with Israel. Israel is very happy with this. Israel helped us and has been very good about it.” The Peace Council confirmed on the social network X that Hamas “accepted a detailed roadmap to implement the following phases of the ceasefire in Gaza” and announced that “a gradual transition will begin soon.”
Hamas’s version
Two senior Hamas officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed to international agencies the agreement reached with Israel and expressed their expectation that international mediators and the Peace Council itself will guarantee its effective compliance. Negotiator Ghazi Hamad was tasked with publicly explaining the Islamist group’s position.
“We are making concessions for the sake of our people in the Gaza Strip, to save them from death and displacement,” Hamad declared, who also clarified that “Israel will not intervene in the disarmament issue.” According to the negotiator, that task will fall to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a body of Palestinian technocrats that Hamas had promoted in early July when announcing the dissolution of the committee that administered the territory’s civil affairs since 2007.
Doubts about a real withdrawal
Despite Washington’s optimism, various analysts doubt that Israel, which currently controls more than 60% of the Gaza Strip, will be willing to pull back with the speed suggested by the announcement. Muhamad Shehada, a researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations, was blunt about it: “With the proximity of the October legislative elections, there is no way Netanyahu will authorize a withdrawal or reconstruction in Gaza; that would amount to political suicide.”
An Israeli political source, consulted in parallel, emphasized that there will be “no withdrawal” without a “true disarmament” of Hamas, one of the main obstacles that has so far prevented a definitive end to the war despite the ceasefire in effect since October.
The rejection of the Israeli far-right
The Minister of National Security, far-rightist Itamar Ben Gvir, described the agreement as “unacceptable.” In a message broadcast via Telegram, he argued that stopping the fighting “is equivalent to accepting that Hamas prepares the next massacre,” in clear reference to the October 7, 2023 attacks, which left 1,221 dead and 251 kidnapped in Israeli territory and sparked the current war.
Ben Gvir’s stance reflects the internal tensions within the Israeli government coalition, where harder-line sectors consider that any concession to Hamas without absolute guarantees of disarmament represents an unacceptable risk to the country’s security.
A devastating war toll
The Israeli military retaliation unleashed after the 2023 attack left, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 73,000 dead in the Palestinian enclave. The violence did not cease even after successive truce agreements: on Thursday prior to the announcement, Israeli bombings killed at least four people, including two children, a reminder of the fragility of each pact achieved so far.
The UN’s reaction
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres described the agreement as “the only good news” in the Middle East and asked that the fighting end “on all fronts” in the region, in a direct reference also to the war between Israel and Iran that broke out in February and continues to mark the geopolitical agenda of the area.
What follows
The announcement opens a phase of uncertainty regarding the real implementation timelines. While the Peace Council promises a “gradual transition” and Hamas insists that decisions on disarmament will be left in the hands of the NCAG and not Israel, the rejection of figures like Ben Gvir anticipates that the process will face political resistance within Netanyahu’s own cabinet. The proximity of the October legislative elections in Israel will be, according to the analysts consulted, the factor that most conditions the speed —and depth— of any effective withdrawal from Palestinian territory.