A Palestinian militant sporting the uniform of the al-Qassam Brigades, the army wing of Hamas, Oct. 15, 2025.
Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg through Getty Photos
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Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg through Getty Photos
SHEFFIELD, U.Ok., and JERUSALEM — Mediators have given Hamas a proper proposal to put down its weapons, a senior U.S. official advised NPR. The proposal requires Hamas and all different militant teams in Gaza handy over all weapons, making an rising governing authority accountable for all of the arms.
The demilitarization proposal was handed over to Hamas final week in Cairo, an extra official within the area mentioned.
A 3rd individual briefed on the proposal known as it a complete framework to make sure the “full handover” and “full decommissioning” of arms belonging to Hamas and all different armed teams in Gaza, and that if Hamas accepts the proposal, it will guarantee large-scale reconstruction of Gaza.
The individual mentioned Hamas has been requested to answer the proposal in a couple of week, after the Muslim Eid vacation.
A Hamas official, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not approved to talk to the media, advised NPR the militant group obtained a written doc and criticized it as a “take it or go away it” supply. He mentioned Hamas would first wait to see the end result of the Iran struggle earlier than responding.
Nickolay Mladenov, the excessive consultant in Gaza for President Trump’s Board of Peace, mentioned in a social media put up the mediators within the battle agreed to a framework that might result in reconstruction of Gaza and “a negotiated decision of the Palestinian query.”
“It’s now on the desk. It requires one clear selection: full decommissioning by Hamas and each armed group, with no exceptions and no carve-outs,” the Bulgarian diplomat, who’s a former U.N. Center East envoy, wrote on X.
Hamas and Israel signed on to President Trump’s ceasefire deal final October, in an effort to finish two years of struggle which have devastated Gaza and triggered conflicts throughout the Center East.
Trump’s Board of Peace was set as much as oversee efforts to demilitarize Hamas, set up a multinational stabilization power for Gaza and guarantee an Israeli army withdrawal from the territory. Hamas officers mentioned they had been prepared to debate their weapons however had been ready for a proper proposal from mediators.
The work of the Board of Peace has been largely placed on maintain, nonetheless, for the reason that U.S. and Israel launched the struggle in opposition to Iran on Feb. 28, triggering a brand new regional battle that has engulfed greater than a dozen nations.
The members of the brand new Palestinian transitional committee tasked to run postwar Gaza have nonetheless not entered the territory, and no new Palestinian police power or multinational power has been shaped.
Regardless of the delicate truce settlement, Israeli forces have killed a whole bunch of Palestinians, most of them civilians, in accordance with Gaza well being authorities. Israel says the assaults focused Hamas militants. A number of Israeli troopers have additionally been killed in assaults by militants.
Robert Danin, a former senior U.S. State Division and White Home official specializing within the Center East, mentioned it was unlikely Hamas could be in any hurry to ship its response to the demilitarization proposal or conform to it.
“Hamas sees time as being on its aspect proper now,” Danin mentioned. “With every passing day, its affect and management on the bottom in Gaza strengthens and expands, significantly so long as the Board of Peace’s proposed various governance buildings and forces for Gaza stay caught outdoors of the strip. So the longer Hamas can delay this established order, the stronger it sees its hand rising for any day after.”
Danin mentioned the distraction brought on by the struggle with Iran would additionally probably draw consideration away from pressuring Hamas.
“Which means that for the Board of Peace and people looking for to disarm Hamas, the important thing query is what instruments does it must see Hamas undertake this plan?” he mentioned.
The Gaza struggle started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a shock assault on southern Israel, killing round 1,200 individuals, in accordance with Israel. Israel’s large army response killed greater than 70,000 individuals in Gaza and left the coastal enclave in ruins, in accordance with Palestinian well being officers.
Regardless of the delicate ceasefire settlement, over the past six months Israeli forces have killed a whole bunch of Palestinians, most of them civilians, in accordance with Gaza well being authorities, in what Israel says had been assaults concentrating on Hamas militants. A number of Israeli troopers have additionally been killed in assaults by militants.
