Trump touts 'historic' agreement to disarm Hamas, rebuild Gaza

President Trump announced Thursday that his Board of Peace had reached an agreement with Hamas to disarm and transfer civilian and security control of Gaza to a new Palestinian technocratic government.
Why it matters: If implemented, the agreement would represent a dramatic breakthrough in Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan and clear the way for reconstruction of the devastated enclave. But the deal requires Hamas and Israel to complete a complicated series of reciprocal and independently verified steps over roughly seven to eight months. Israeli officials remain deeply skeptical that Hamas will surrender its weapons, while comments from a senior Hamas official suggest the sequencing of disarmament and Israel's withdrawal could still be contested.
State of play: Two U.S. officials said Hamas had agreed to the terms of the deal after months of what one senior administration official described as 'very delicate' negotiations with mediators Qatar, Turkey and Egypt. Implementation is expected to begin in the coming weeks, the senior U.S. official said.
Under the agreement, Hamas would relinquish any role in governing Gaza. The new National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) would serve as an alternative to Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. It will work for the people of Gaza, the senior U.S. official said.
Reality check: Hamas official Ghazi Hamad confirmed to Al Jazeera that 'difficult' negotiations had produced an agreement, but his description raised immediate questions about its implementation. "We will not take any steps regarding disarmament before Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip," Hamad said. He added that the NCAG would carry out disarmament without Israeli involvement. That appears to differ from Trump's description of a 'carefully structured' and phased process in which Israeli forces withdraw as disarmament is completed.
Zoom in: The agreement is based on the principle that Gaza will have one government, one legal system and one legitimate security authority. The demilitarization process is expected to take between 200 and 250 days and to proceed through one part of Gaza at a time. Hamas' civilian police would first transfer their weapons to a new Palestinian police force under the technocratic government. Hamas' heavy weapons would then be decommissioned and placed in secure storage, while its tunnels and weapons factories would be dismantled. Small arms would be collected in accordance with Palestinian law. All other militias in Gaza, including anti-Hamas factions armed by Israel during the war, would also be required to surrender their weapons.
The NCAG would assume authority over each area only after a monitoring mechanism verified that the relevant commitments had been fulfilled. At the end of the process, the technocratic government and its police force would have a monopoly on weapons in Gaza, the Board of Peace official said.
A Board of Peace official said the agreement was designed around 'zero trust' because Hamas and Israel each made clear from the outset that they did not trust the other side. The goal is to avoid a situation in which the technocratic government controls Gaza during the day while armed factions retain power at night, the official said.
The other side: Israel's withdrawal would proceed gradually under a timetable that is still being finalized. Israel would also halt military operations and targeted killings in Gaza, except in cases involving an imminent threat. All military activity in Gaza will have to cease - both from Israel and Hamas, the Board of Peace official said.
The intrigue: During a recent visit to Iran for the funeral of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, a Hamas delegation met with senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting. The IRGC officials urged Hamas not to rush into signing the agreement and to play for time, the source said. A senior U.S. official also claimed Iran tried to convince Hamas not to sign the deal, but said the group chose not to listen.