Hamas has agreed to a draft roadmap that would see the group’s weapons placed under the control of a Palestinian administrative body as Israeli forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip in phases, according to officials involved in the negotiations. The proposal, announced by US President Donald Trump, has not received public approval from Israel, while Israeli military operations continued across Gaza on Friday.
The proposal forms part of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire process. It was negotiated through mediators from Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the United States under the framework of the Board of Peace, the body established to oversee post-war governance and reconstruction in Gaza.
Trump described the agreement as “a monumental step toward lasting peace and security” and said Gaza would eventually be administered by a new Palestinian government working alongside the Board of Peace.
Hamas confirmed that it had accepted a draft agreement but said implementation depends on Israel fulfilling its commitments under the ceasefire.
In a statement, the group said Israel must complete the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, including the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza and the end of military operations, before the second phase begins.
“Hamas will not implement any step of the Gaza peace deal if the Israeli occupation forces do not fulfil their obligations under the agreement,” Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ negotiating delegation, told Al Jazeera.
Hamad said Israel would play no role in the handling of the group’s weapons. Instead, they would be managed by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a technocratic Palestinian body established under the Board of Peace framework.
He also told Reuters that Hamas would hand over its weapons to the NCAG only after Israeli troops withdrew and humanitarian aid and commercial goods entered Gaza in greater quantities.
According to the draft agreement obtained by Al Jazeera, the disarmament process would begin with an inventory and storage of heavy weapons, supervised by the NCAG with oversight from an international verification commission. The roadmap states that no weapons would be transferred to Israel or any other non-Palestinian authority.
The agreement also links each stage of disarmament directly to Israeli military withdrawals verified by an international monitoring mechanism.
A schedule for the inventory process is due to be prepared within 14 days of formal approval by all parties, according to the draft.
The proposal also calls for the deployment of an International Stabilization Force and the recruitment of a new Palestinian police force to assume security responsibilities as Israeli troops leave areas of Gaza.
The NCAG welcomed the announcement on Friday and said it was prepared to assume responsibility for governing the territory.
In a statement, the committee said it had completed institutional and operational preparations to restore public services, coordinate humanitarian assistance and lead reconstruction efforts.
“The people of Gaza have waited long enough,” the committee said, adding that it stood ready to work with international partners to rebuild the territory.
The roadmap transfers civilian administration to the NCAG during a transitional period, with Palestinian factions agreeing not to interfere in its work, according to details released by the Board of Peace.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza, said the agreement followed months of negotiations.
“It took months of very difficult negotiations,” he wrote on X, adding that implementation and verification would determine the success of the process.
Despite the announcement, uncertainty remains over whether the proposal will take effect.
Israel has not publicly confirmed that it accepts the roadmap.
Reuters reported that before Trump’s announcement, an Israeli official said Israel had rejected an earlier version of the proposal because it did not meet demands for the complete removal of Hamas’ weapons from Gaza.
A US official quoted by Reuters said Israel remained sceptical that Hamas would disarm, while expressing confidence that the agreement could still be implemented.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad also questioned reports that all Palestinian factions had agreed to the proposal, saying some of the language being circulated did not accurately reflect its position.
The announcement comes as violence continues across Gaza.
Hours after the roadmap was announced, medics at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said at least one Palestinian was killed in an Israeli air strike on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza, according to Al Jazeera.
Separate drone strikes were also reported in Gaza City on Friday, with local reports cited by Al Jazeera saying attacks near the Khadija Mosque wounded two people.
The Israeli military also said it had detained more than 200 people during operations in the occupied West Bank over the past week, accusing those arrested of offences including weapons trafficking, smuggling and alleged links to Hamas.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said continued Israeli attacks on homes, displacement camps and civilian infrastructure formed part of a systematic campaign against and genocide the population of Gaza.
The ceasefire announced in October has remained fragile.
More than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire came into force, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed by Palestinian militants during the same period. Reuters also reported that Israeli strikes killed at least six Palestinians on Thursday, including two children.
HT