For the first time, Hamas has agreed to the Board of Peace’s plan to fully disarm Gaza after months of intense negotiations. The plan calls for the inventory and storage of its remaining heavy weapons under Palestinian supervision, which may eliminate the biggest barrier to the Trump-backed peace strategy for Gaza. The action was taken shortly after Hamas held elections to choose its new leader, Khalil al-Hayya, who is located in Gaza.
Driven by the dire humanitarian circumstances that more than two million Palestinians in Gaza face, Palestinian officials participating in the negotiations believe the new leadership was ready to make what they call the most significant political choice in Hamas’s history. The BBC was informed by a senior Hamas official and member of the movement’s negotiating team that the negotiations were “long and extremely difficult” and that Hamas insisted on the phrase “inventorying and storing weapons” under Palestinian supervision instead of giving them to Israel.
Whether the agreement will be completely executed or whether all parties will keep their end of the bargain is still too early to say. However, if it succeeds, it might be the first real step toward putting an end to a nearly three-year-long conflict and paving the way for a more comprehensive political process.
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