Last Updated on 4 hours ago by TodayWhy Editorial
On 30 July 2026, Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that his Board of Peace had reached a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza.
A senior Hamas official confirmed to the BBC that the group had agreed. It is the first time in the conflict that it has committed to giving up its weapons.
But the Hamas disarmament document itself is narrower than the announcement, and one phrase inside it does a great deal of work. Here is what was actually signed, what was left open, and who has not agreed at all.
What the Hamas disarmament agreement actually says
Al Jazeera obtained a copy of the agreement. It is a framework, not a schedule.
The text stipulates that the precise Hamas disarmament roadmap must still be prepared within 14 days, with extensions possible if an international verification body and all parties agree.
So the Hamas disarmament deal everyone is reacting to is an agreement to write a plan — not the plan itself. That distinction matters for anyone trying to judge whether this holds.
What the document does set out is a sequence. The process begins when a National Committee and the International Stabilization Force enter Gaza. The National Committee then oversees an inventory and storage process, watched by an international verification committee, with the Palestinian factions taking part.
Police weapons transfer first. Heavy weapons are decommissioned afterwards. All military activity is to stop.
Two conditions are written in explicitly: no weapons may be handed to Israel or to any non-Palestinian body, and the National Committee must be the sole force holding weapons in Gaza.
The phrase that changes the meaning
This is the detail almost no coverage has picked up, and it is the most important thing in the document.
The agreement’s operative language is inventory and storage. Trump’s announcement said complete disarmament. Those are not synonyms.
Military analyst Nidal Abu Zaid told Al Jazeera the difference is deliberate. Inventory and storage is carried out by a third party, and that third party does not have to be an enemy force. Disarmament, in his reading, is something an enemy force does to you — and the factions would never accept that.
Read alongside the clause barring any transfer to Israel or non-Palestinian hands, the design becomes clearer. The group is not surrendering weapons to an adversary. It is placing them under Palestinian custody, with international observers watching.
Whether that satisfies Israel is an entirely separate question, and Israel has not answered it.
The conditions Hamas attached
Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas negotiating delegation, told Al Jazeera the talks were difficult and that the parties reached the best formula achievable.
He also said the group would not implement any part of the agreement if Israeli forces failed to meet their obligations. Disarmament, in his account, depends on Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and on visible progress in reconstruction.
That makes the Hamas disarmament commitment conditional and reciprocal rather than unilateral. Every step is matched to a step by the other side, and either side stopping stops the process.
How long Hamas disarmament is supposed to take
Reporting on the plan describes a phased process lasting roughly seven to eight months, moving through Gaza one sector at a time rather than everywhere at once.
Israeli forces would withdraw progressively as decommissioning is verified in each area. Reconstruction would begin in areas certified as cleared. A new Palestinian police force, trained with Egyptian support, would take over local security alongside the International Stabilization Force.
None of that can start until the 14-day roadmap exists and the National Committee and stabilization force are physically inside Gaza — neither of which has happened.
Who has not signed on
Two gaps are worth watching more than any other.
Israel has not publicly commented. The agreement was announced by Washington and confirmed by Hamas; the Israeli government said nothing. Earlier in July, when Hamas dissolved its Gaza governing body, Israeli Defence Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the move a trick and said Hamas must disarm, arguing that any civilian government would operate as Hamas dictated while the group kept its weapons.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad has objected. The other main armed faction in Gaza said reports of an agreement were inaccurate and expressed reservations about the wording being circulated. The plan requires all armed groups to disarm, not only Hamas.
There is also the question of who staffs the stabilization force. Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported speculation about Indonesian and Turkish contributions — something Israel may resist.
Why Hamas disarmament is a genuine reversal
The commitment is real, whatever its conditions, and it reverses a position the group held publicly for months.
In January 2026, senior Hamas figure Mousa Abu Marzouk said the group had never agreed to disarm and that nobody had raised it with them directly. The Board of Peace’s own report to the UN Security Council in May named Hamas’s refusal to accept verified decommissioning as the principal obstacle to the whole plan.
What changed appears to be pressure rather than persuasion. Al Jazeera reported that Hamas was told its financial position would become considerably harder if it refused, and that international pressure to accept was substantial.
The group had already dissolved its governing body on 6 July, handing civil administration to the National Committee. Weapons were the one thing it had not given up.
The precedent nobody is mentioning
There is a recent, regional test case for exactly this structure, and it is barely a month old.
In June 2026, Israel and Lebanon signed a US-mediated framework aimed at dismantling Hezbollah — the same basic architecture of staged disarmament traded against staged withdrawal and reconstruction money. We covered it in our piece on the Israel–Lebanon framework agreement on Hezbollah.
How that deal has performed since is the most useful available guide to whether this one will. Both rely on an armed group voluntarily giving up leverage in exchange for promises that are themselves conditional, and both depend on a third-party force that does not yet fully exist.
What to watch on Hamas disarmament next
Four things, in order of how quickly they will tell you something.
First, the 14-day deadline. If a detailed roadmap does not appear by mid-August, or extensions start stacking up, that is the earliest signal.
Second, an Israeli response. Silence from Jerusalem is not agreement, and the plan cannot proceed without Israeli withdrawal steps.
Third, whether the National Committee actually enters Gaza. As of the Board of Peace’s May report, it had never been able to operate in areas under Hamas armed control.
Fourth, force generation for the International Stabilization Force. A body envisioned at 20,000 troops has so far secured only a small pilot deployment.
Cairo will host further talks between the mediators — Egypt, the United States, Qatar and Türkiye — to confirm commitments.
Frequently asked questions
Has Hamas actually disarmed?
No. Hamas disarmament has been agreed only as a framework document. The detailed roadmap must be written within 14 days, and no weapons have been handed over.
Who did Hamas agree with?
The Board of Peace, the transitional body chaired by Trump and welcomed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803, working with the ceasefire guarantors: Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the United States.
Who will hold the weapons?
Under the agreement, a Palestinian National Committee — not Israel and not any non-Palestinian body. An international verification committee observes the process.
Has Israel agreed?
Israel had not publicly commented at the time of writing. Israeli officials have previously insisted that Hamas disarmament must be real rather than nominal.
What happens if Hamas does not follow through?
Reconstruction funding and Israeli withdrawal are both tied to verified Hamas disarmament, so the practical consequence is that the rest of the plan stalls. The Board of Peace has said reconstruction cannot begin where weapons have not been laid down.
How long will the process take?
Reporting indicates roughly seven to eight months of sequenced, independently verified steps, proceeding sector by sector rather than across Gaza at once.
Where can I read the primary sources?
Al Jazeera, which obtained a copy of the agreement, reported the disarmament agreement and the conditions attached to it. The Board of Peace’s own May 2026 report to the UN Security Council sets out the roadmap this agreement completes.