3 min readAug 1, 2026 07:00 AM IST First published on: Aug 1, 2026 at 07:00 AM ISTWhether US President Donald Trump’s announcement of the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza proves to be the breakthrough he claims it will be depends on all parties honouring their commitments. The US President has said Hamas’s disarmament would pave the way for a Palestinian committee to take over governance in Gaza and for Israel’s military withdrawal, as envisaged under his 20-point peace plan, which Hamas and Israel agreed to nearly 10 months ago. That Hamas will agree to disarm is, based on current evidence, highly improbable. Whatever legitimacy it still commands is rooted in its use of terror as resistance against Israel’s illegal occupation.The first challenge is one of sequencing: Who makes the first concession? Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Hamas said it would not move on disarmament before Israel withdraws from the Strip. The second concerns the weapons. Hamas says it has agreed to transfer its arsenal to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a body of independent Palestinian technocrats supervised by the Board of Peace. Israel has maintained that the “full demilitarisation” of Gaza is a “non-negotiable” precondition for any military withdrawal. Indeed, the 13 members of the NCAG have so far been barred by Israel from entering Gaza. Matters are further complicated by opposition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing allies, who have gone beyond the government’s stated war aims by advocating permanent Israeli security control over Gaza and the re-establishment of Jewish settlements there. How far Netanyahu, with an eye on the next election, is willing — or able — to override them will depend on the pressure Trump is prepared to exert him.AdvertisementDespite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out airstrikes, while the humanitarian catastrophe unleashed by the war following Hamas’s October 7 terror attack has shown little sign of abating. Israel continues to restrict the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, and making the survival of the civilian population contingent on Hamas’s disarmament amounts to collective punishment. Whatever the fate of Trump’s peace plan, food, medicine and infrastructure material must be allowed to make their way to Gaza, and reconstruction must begin without delay. That should not be hijacked by either Israel or Hamas.