Donald Trump has claimed that the US has reached an agreement with Hamas as per which it will completely disarm itself in the Gaza region. The BBC and a few other news agencies have reported that Hamas leadership has confirmed this new development although there is no confirmation from Israel’s side towards reaching a viable agreement.
But since the announcement by Trump, there have been reports of fresh bombing in Gaza by Israeli armed forces casting a shadow on how long the agreement will really last.
Hamas had agreed to dissolve its government in Gaza and was prepared to transfer power to a U.N.-backed technical committee early this month. It had however fallen short of agreeing to a complete disarmament in Gaza which now seems to be the new development in the whole deal as claimed by Trump.
If this is proved right it will be a major milestone in the war in the Middle East.
Meanwhile a four page road map plan has been prepared by the Americans which would form the crux of the new agreement for peace in Gaza.
The page three of the agreement, on which Israel is yet to comment, reads like this:
- It will begin with an inventory being made of all heavy weapons, military production sites, weapons depots and tunnels within Gaza.
- An “international stabilisation force” will be deployed to Gaza, alongside a newly-formed Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza – that will manage the process.
- The disarmament will be “gradual and sequential”, and will occur based on a schedule to be prepared “within 14 days”.
- Disarmament will be linked to a “phased Israeli withdrawal”, with a “verification committee” ensuring each phase is completed.
- The agreement states that no weapons will be handed to Israel or any non-Palestinian entity.
After this process is complete, according to the roadmap, this new Palestinian authority “alone shall retain, store, or exercise control over weapons in Gaza”.
There has been no response from the Israeli side about the agreement which Trump claims to have reached with the Hamas leadership. Unless Israel agrees to the terms it looks unlikely if this agreement will work on the ground.
It now remains to be seen whether the latest claim by Trump is yet another attempt to steal the headline with low on detail or this is a serious step towards ending one of the most wretched conflicts of recent times.
