Officials on the U.S.-backed Peace Board said Thursday that Hamas has, for the first time, agreed in principle to give up its weapons. The officials said Hamas is trying to attach conditions, especially by demanding Israeli withdrawals first. The board was established by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Peace Board chief executive Nikolai Mladenov presented a Gaza reconstruction roadmap at the UN last month that includes disarming Hamas and handing weapons to a technocratic committee, with support from an international stabilization force, the ISF. He stressed that Hamas would not need to hand its arms to Israel, only to Palestinian authorities backed by the ISF. About a week and a half ago, Hamas met mediators from Turkey, Qatar and Egypt in Cairo, and they later brought Mladenov Hamas's comments, including what he described as readiness to collect and remove weapons from service.
Sources involved in the talks said progress has been made and the direction appears positive, but there is uncertainty over whether Hamas is manipulating the process. The concern is that Hamas is speaking about surrendering weapons, not all of its weapons. Hamas has also suggested concentrating arms in warehouses rather than fully handing them over. In the talks, the group complained that Mladenov was trying to take away its final means of defense and accused him of serving Israeli interests. Mediators said Mladenov and the Peace Board will not cross their red lines or accept any weapons remaining with Hamas. Mladenov has allowed only minor wording changes to the roadmap, and the board is now waiting for Hamas's response.
Meanwhile, preparations for the ISF in Gaza are advancing. Officers from Morocco arrived this week and joined counterparts from Kosovo, with Albania and Kazakhstan expected later. The logistics facility at Kerem Shalom is nearly finished, and an announcement is expected soon on the start of training Palestinian police in Egypt. The first stage will train 5,000 officers, eventually rising to 20,000.
Officials said Hamas is extremely weak, isolated and in severe financial distress, struggling to pay salaries, while a major protest is expected tomorrow and worries the group. They added that mediators are keeping steady pressure on Hamas, which they said has little room to gain regional support or financial backing. At the same time, Israel is watching closely as Hamas moves closer to Iran. Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with senior Hamas figure Basem Naim and said Iran's negotiating team would raise Israel's ongoing strikes on Gaza, ongoing violations and continued genocide. Sources said Hamas is trying to win Iranian backing out of desperation, but it is doubtful Tehran will make Gaza part of its calculations while focusing on Lebanon.
