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Trump announces a deal for Hamas to disarm, but many hurdles and uncertainty remain

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− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump announces deal for Hamas to disarm, but hurdles remain President Trump says a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump announces Hamas deal to disarm, militants demand Israel withdraws first President Trump announced that his Board of Peace has reached a deal with Hamas to completely disarm, calling it a "historic breakthrough." But a senior Hamas official says Israel must withdraw first.
− But many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remain to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory.
+ Middle East Trump announces deal for Hamas to disarm, militants demand Israel withdraws from Gaza first July 31, 20261:20 AM ET By NPR Staff Palestinians search among rubble, damaged tents and household belongings after an Israeli airstrike in the Al-Nasr neighborhood of western Gaza City, on July 30, 2026.
− Middle East Trump announces a deal for Hamas to disarm, but many hurdles and uncertainty remain July 31, 20261:20 AM ET By The Associated Press Palestinians salvage their belongings from the rubble of a building and tents destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Thursday, July 30, 2026.
+ The overnight strike hit the Matter family home and destroyed the residential building and the nearby Al-Zuhour displacement camp, where local authorities said around 35 displaced families had been sheltering.
− Jehad Alshrafi/AP hide caption WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, but many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remained to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory. Neither Hamas nor Israel gave immediate indication that they had agreed.
+ MOHAMMED M SKAIK/AFP via Getty Images hide caption President Trump announced that his Board of Peace has reached a deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas to completely disarm, calling it a "historic breakthrough." But a senior Hamas official told NPR on Friday Israel must withdraw from parts of Gaza first.
+ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately react to Trump's announcement.
Politics Trump gathers members of Board of Peace for first meeting, with some U.S.
− allies wary The White House announcement comes nine months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire was signed.
+ allies wary "Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza.
− Negotiations between Israel and Hamas had largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.
+ This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY," Trump posted on social media late Thursday.
− "The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases," Trump said on social media.
+ The Board of Peace is an entity created and chaired by the president to oversee the peace plan in Gaza.
− "As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors." FILE - President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Hagerstown Regional Airport, in Hagerstown, Md., en route to Camp David, Md., June 8, 2025.
+ The board, which gathered 40 countries at its inauguration, was convened in February.
− Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP hide caption Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan calls on the militant group to surrender its weapons and destroy its vast network of tunnels. It also envisions Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza, the arrival of a new technocratic Palestinian government, deployment of an international security force and the rebuilding of the battered Palestinian enclave.
+ It includes Israel and Arab countries, but no Palestinian representatives.
− Trump announced what he said was an agreement to realize one of the most difficult portions of the Gaza ceasefire while negotiations have stalled and military attacks have escalated in the war that the U.S.
+ Trump said the agreement, which comes nearly nine months after the U.S.
− and Israel in February launched against Iran, a key sponsor of Hamas.
+ negotiated a ceasefire to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, would be carried out in carefully structured phases.
− U.S.
+ "As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors," Trump said on Truth Social. The deployment of the International Stabilization Force, which is eventually expected to include thousands of international peacekeepers, is part of Trump's peace plan for Gaza.
− and Board of Peace officials, describing the deal to reporters on condition of anonymity under guidelines set by the White House, gave an extremely optimistic assessment of the agreement that laid out a scenario very similar to the one described by Trump and his top aides when the Board of Peace, an international body established by Trump to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza, was first formed.
+ International peacekeepers are expected to act as a buffer between Israel and Hamas.
− The officials were unable to offer specific timelines for the disarmament of Hamas or other groups that operate in Gaza, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but said the Gaza police force would turn over weapons to the technocratic Board of Peace-backed Gaza administration in the next two weeks.
+ But a senior Hamas official, who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Israel must uphold its commitments of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, "including withdrawal" first.
− The Gaza police force, however, does not include the vast majority of Hamas militants and heavy weaponry is not included in that part of the agreement, according to the officials.
+ Trump said the agreement was reached with the help of mediating countries: Turkey, Egypt and Qatar.
− Instead, the surrender of heavy weapons and the decommissioning of Hamas tunnels and other infrastructure are to come later in a process that could take between 200 and 350 days, a Board of Peace official said.
+ "CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL ON THIS AMAZING DEVELOPMENT, THAT EVERYBODY SAID COULD NEVER BE ACHIEVED!" he wrote.
− A U.S.
+ In a press briefing, officials with the Board of Peace said a transitional authority would "hold a full monopoly on weapons in the Gaza Strip" and "hopefully all the tunnels will be disclosed and destroyed." But the condition that Hamas disarm was already central to the 20-point U.S.-brokered Gaza peace deal, announced in October last year.
− official said Israel, which has been deeply skeptical about Hamas' willingness to give up its guns or relinquish at least behind-the-scenes control of Gaza, had been consulted at every step of the negotiation.
+ Implementation of that part of the deal has been deadlocked as the Israeli military continues to push into Gaza.
− However, the official said Israel was not being asked to do anything more than what it had initially committed to when it agreed to Trump's 20-point plan, which essentially involves withdrawing its forces from Gaza and committing to ending airstrikes on the territory.
+ Board of Peace officials said on Thursday that the disarmament agreement with Hamas is "essentially a 'roadmap' to implement that peace deal." Under the peace deal, Hamas and other militant groups would hand their arms over to a vetted international policing force, which has not been stood up yet.
− Middle East conflict Trump signs Board of Peace charter at Davos as allies split on Gaza plan The official said Trump would be "very, very disappointed" if Israel didn't adhere to the agreement.
+ Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative in Gaza for President Trump's Board of Peace, said the deal "took months of very difficult negotiations." "What the agreement says matters.
− Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House on Tuesday, but neither said much about what was discussed in their first face-to-face meeting since launching the war against Iran.
+ What happens next matters even more. Implementation and verification have to be real. Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning," Mladenov said on X.
− Israel's U.N.
+ Trump's announcement on Thursday did not mention other militant groups, such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, the second largest group in Gaza. The militant group disputed the agreement, saying in a statement on Friday that the deal Trump announced was "inaccurate." "We have reservations regarding it in the currently circulated form," Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement said. Netanyahu, who met Trump in Washington earlier this week, has been silent on Trump's announcement.
− Mission said it had no immediate comment.
+ There was no indication that the Gaza deal came up in that meeting, with the two putting out very limited statements.
− The official added that Iran remains a wildcard in the equation because although it counseled Hamas members not to accept a deal, it is also not in a position to offer the group much support because it is preoccupied with the conflict with the United States.
+ Iran war a factor Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, the leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, a Palestinian political movement, told NPR on Friday that the big sticking point of the deal is the sequencing of events.
− Hamas previously had insisted on implementing the first phase of the ceasefire before moving to discuss its weapons.
+ Palestinians run for cover as smoke and fire rise during an Israeli strike on the the Al-Muttaqin Mosque in Gaza City on July 28, 2026.
− The group's founding charter calls for armed resistance against Israel, and it has been reluctant to give up an arsenal, including rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosives, that lies at the heart of its identity.
+ Gaza remains gripped by daily violence, with both the Israeli military and Hamas accusing one another of violating the truce in effect since October 10. The war flattened swathes of the territory, displaced most of the population at least once, and left hundreds of thousands of people living in tents and temporary shelters. OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption He said President Trump needs to put pressure on Israel to honor the truce.
− Hamas announced earlier this month, however, that it had dissolved its government in Gaza and was preparing to transfer power to a technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of the ceasefire deal.
+ "He should exercise pressure on Israel to connect to the ceasefire and stop bombarding Gaza, and begin the process of withdrawing from Gaza instead of expanding their occupation," Barghouti added.
− The war in Gaza began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct.
+ Around 1,100 people have been killed in almost daily Israeli strikes in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced.
− 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
+ Israel says it is targeting Hamas members, despite the truce. Trump's announcement comes as the U.S.
− Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza's Health Ministry said.
+ and Israel are still involved in the war with Iran, a conflict many Americans oppose.The United States and Iran continue to trade strikes in a widening five-month conflict, with near nightly attacks by the U.S. military on Iranian military infrastructure over Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian retaliatory attacks against U.S. military bases in the Gulf states and Jordan.
− Israel's military now controls more than half of Gaza, leaving Palestinians confined to squalid tent camps and heavily damaged urban neighborhoods.
+ A new AP poll has found that almost two-thirds of Americans say the war is not worth the fight.
+ Alex Conant, a veteran Republican strategist, told NPR if fighting continues – and gas prices keep rising – there will be political consequences, and the midterms are just three months away. "If you look through history, you know, every president who has entered a war in modern times that's gone longer than people expected, whether it was Vietnam or the war on terror and the Iraq war, it starts to weigh on them politically," Conant said. NPR's Franco Ordonez in Washington, Emily Feng and Frank Langfitt in Tel Aviv contributed reporting.
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