In a Truth Social post, Trump announced: “Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY.” Neither Israel nor the Palestinian group have confirmed the deal.
Under the carefully phased framework of the Trump 20-Point Plan, the agreement envisions Hamas surrendering its heavy weapons and dismantling its vast tunnel network, followed by a gradual withdrawal of occupying Israeli forces.
In their place, a new International Stabilization Force would partner with a new Palestinian police force to secure the territory, while a technocratic Palestinian government assumes civilian control.
The White House cast the development as a historic milestone, with the President asserting that Gaza will “finally be in the hands of a new Palestinian government that serves its people” and vowing that the threat of October 7 “will NOT be allowed to rebuild.”
“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. At the same time, Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks,” Trump noted in the post.
A Gaza police force—which excludes most Hamas militants—is expected to turn over light weapons within two weeks; the surrender of heavy armaments, including rockets and anti-tank missiles, alongside the decommissioning of tunnels, could take anywhere from 200 to 350 days.
Israel, which has been deeply skeptical of Hamas’s willingness to relinquish its arms or cede control of Gaza, has been consulted but not formally assented to the new terms.
A U.S. official, cited by the Associated Press, an American news agency, warned that Trump would be “very, very disappointed” if Israel does not adhere, though the Israeli government declined immediate comment.
Hamas, whose founding charter enshrines armed resistance, has previously insisted on completing the first phase of the ceasefire before discussing disarmament, and while it recently dissolved its Gaza government in a symbolic gesture, its ultimate commitment to giving up the weapons at the heart of its identity remains unproven.
For the President, who thanked mediators Egypt, Qatar, and Turkiye alongside his own team, the announcement is seen as an achievement—a deal “everybody said could never be achieved.”
“These negotiations were difficult and hard, and we tried to reach the best possible formula that was achievable,” Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s negotiating delegation, told Al Jazeera.
However, Hamad said that Hamas would not implement any part of the agreement if Israeli forces failed to fulfil their obligations. The official said disarmament depended on Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and progress on reconstruction in the Palestinian territory.
from World News: International Headlines, Breaking News - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/qwc4PD6
via IFTTT
No comments: