President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza have agreed to lay down every weapon they have — a deal brokered with Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye that goes further than any agreement any administration has ever secured in the region. The terms require Hamas to end all military activity and recruitment within weeks, not months, not "when conditions allow" — weeks.
"COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza," Trump posted on Truth Social. "This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY."
The agreement, described as part of the Trump 20-Point Plan and the broader Board of Peace framework, is conditions-based. Israeli forces remain behind the "yellow line" until disarmament is verified complete. An International Stabilization Force will oversee the transition, and a new Palestinian police force — not Hamas, not Islamic Jihad, not another militia with a rebranding problem — will handle internal security.
"This agreement is a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government," Trump continued. "Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks."
A U.S. official, speaking to The Hill, put the mechanics in plain terms: "They're very skeptical that Hamas will disarm. This isn't really a trust deal. This is really, you know, it's a conditions-based deal." In other words, nobody's taking Hamas at their word. The structure assumes bad faith and builds verification into every step.
The usual chorus will line up to explain why this can't possibly work. Hamas won't really disarm. The weapons will just move somewhere else. You can't trust these people. But the same voices spent the entirety of the Biden administration insisting that diplomacy was the only path forward — and then watched that administration fail to produce a single meaningful agreement while Hamas rebuilt tunnels and stockpiled rockets.
Trump's framework doesn't require trust. It requires compliance, monitored by an international force, with Israeli military presence as the enforcement mechanism until the job is done. That's not optimism. That's leverage.
"The threat that emerged from Gaza on October 7 will NOT be allowed to rebuild," Trump wrote. "Gaza will finally be in the hands of a new Palestinian government that serves its PEOPLE."
This marks the furthest any American president has pushed toward total demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. Previous administrations settled for ceasefires that functioned as intermissions — pauses that let Hamas rearm, regroup, and resume. This deal, if enforced, eliminates the arsenal entirely.
The Biden administration spent a year begging for a hostage deal and got press conferences. Trump got disarmament.
One of those is a negotiating strategy. The other is a photo op.
