Trump Announces Gaza Disarmament Deal as Hamas and Israel Stay Silent

The Board of Peace and Its Authority

The Board of Peace was originally established as a temporary body tasked with overseeing Gaza's reconstruction and facilitating a transition to an unelected Palestinian technocratic administration. Its founding charter, however, grants it broader authority to pursue peace-building initiatives in other conflict-affected regions and vests Trump with extensive personal powers.

Trump holds veto power over all board decisions, can issue directives on the organization's behalf, and serves without a fixed term. He can only be replaced upon resignation or if the executive board unanimously declares him incapacitated, and he personally designates his successor. While invited members typically receive three-year memberships, this limit does not apply to those contributing more than $1 billion. Palestinians are absent from the Board's upper governing bodies and participate only through a technocratic committee responsible for managing Gaza's daily public services under board supervision.

Unresolved Disputes and Continuing Violence

Reports published shortly before Trump's announcement indicated that Hamas seeks to retain personal small arms while placing heavy weaponry under the supervision of a Palestinian body rather than destroying it. The group also demands amnesty for members of disbanded armed formations and insists that disarmament be synchronized with Israeli withdrawal, rather than surrendering weapons in exchange for a future promise of withdrawal.

The announcement coincided with ongoing Israeli strikes across Gaza despite the October ceasefire. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that hospitals received six bodies and 34 wounded patients on Thursday. Among the dead were an eight-year-old child killed in a strike on a displacement camp in Khan Younis and an 18-month-old baby killed in a bombing at the Bureij refugee camp. Since Israel launched its military campaign in response to the October 2023 Hamas raid, at least 73,341 Palestinians have been killed and more than 174,000 wounded, according to Gaza health authorities.

What Comes Next

As of Thursday evening, neither Hamas nor Israel had issued official confirmation that a final agreement had been concluded. The unresolved issues surrounding weapons retention, amnesty provisions, and the sequencing of disarmament and Israeli withdrawal suggest that further negotiations will be required before any deal can be implemented. No timeline has been publicly set for the next round of talks.