Analysis: Disarmament potentially removes most significant obstacle to peace planpublished at 02:32 BST

02:32 BST

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, in Cairo

After months of marathon talks, Hamas has, for the first time, accepted a framework of the Board of Peace’s plan to completely disarm in Gaza.

The plan provides for the inventorying and storage of its remaining heavy weapons under Palestinian supervision, potentially removing the most significant obstacle to advancing the Trump-backed peace initiative for Gaza. The move comes soon after Hamas concluded leadership elections that brought Gaza-based leader Khalil al-Hayya to the head of the movement.

Palestinian officials involved in the talks believe the new leadership was prepared to take what he described as the most consequential political decision in Hamas’s history, driven by the devastating humanitarian conditions facing more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

US officials, who have just hosted a call for reporters, were asked how hopeful they are that Israel will agree to withdraw from Gaza once Hamas has disarmed.

"We're not asking Israel to do anything other than agree to the 20-point plan that they agreed to, initially. And so we're very confident they will adhere to it," an official responded.

If Israel decides not to withdraw as part of the 20-point plan, Trump would be "very disappointed", the official said. The official said they believed Israel would continue to be a good partner.

Shaimaa Khalil
North America correspondent, BBC News

The BBC has obtained the text of the four-page roadmap, which sets out a phased process linking Hamas's disarmament to a gradual Israeli military withdrawal and the deployment of a new Palestinian transitional authority backed by an international stabilisation force.

US officials said the plan was deliberately built on "zero trust" and with verification, with neither Hamas nor Israel moving to the next phase until the other has fulfilled its commitments.

They said smaller groups in Gaza would be disarmed first, before Hamas begins dismantling what they described as its state-like military infrastructure of tunnels, weapons depots and production facilities - a process they acknowledged would take considerably longer.

Once the phases of the roadmap have been completed, a new Palestinian authority would hold complete control over weapons in Gaza. Israel has not yet publicly commented.

Back in January, the BBC’s Washington Correspondent Daniel Bush explained what you need to know about the Board of Peace.

Watch here:

The senior Hamas official who told the BBC that the group has agreed to the Board of Peace’s plan to completely disarm in Gaza said an official statement will be released soon.

The BBC also now has the text of the plan, and we will be bringing you what it says.

Earlier in the day, unnamed sources who spoke to Reuters said that talks in Cairo between the mediators and Hamas leaders on implementing the US-brokered Gaza peace plan had made rare progress, but an Israeli official said the proposed terms were not satisfactory.

Following Trump's announcement, the Times of Israel reported, citing an unnamed source, that the agreement had been signed between negotiators from Hamas as well as the board and mediating countries.

But it said that "an Israeli office" had issued a statement saying the disarmament proposal did not meet Jerusalem's demands.

Israeli media reported earlier that Israel was opposed to a deal that was being discussed with Hamas.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

In a post on Truth Social, President Trump said: "This is a major milestone in the implementation of the Trump 20-Point Plan. The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases.

As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors."

He also thanked mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.

Cairo would host a Gaza mediator meeting on the second phase of the ceasefire plan, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Egyptian state media.

US President Donald Trump says the Board of Peace has reached an agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.

A senior Hamas official has told the BBC they have agreed to the Board of Peace's plan to completely disarm in Gaza and that an official statement will be released soon. Israel has yet to comment.

Trump said Israel would withdraw from Gaza "as disarmament is completed" and called the agreement "a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government".

The second phase of a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire plan includes the disarmament of Hamas. The second phase also includes the reconstruction of Gaza.

This is a breaking story. Stay with us as we bring you the latest.