Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists are prepared to hand over thousands of rifles and other weapons used by their police force and other security services in the Gaza Strip, The New York Times reported Sunday.
But the gesture falls short of the full disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza, a core demand of Israel and a key element of President Donald Trump's peace plan for the territory. That plan would also remove Hamas from power and bar it from any role in governing.
Two Hamas officials told the Times that the group would be willing to turn over the weapons to the Palestinian administrative committee established by the Board of Peace, a U.S.-led international body created under Trump's Gaza peace plan to oversee the ceasefire, governance transition, and reconstruction.
Hamas, which until Sunday had publicly resisted giving up any of its arms, had previously said it was willing to transfer responsibility for providing public services in Gaza to the U.S.-backed committee. But the group has not disbanded their battalions of armed fighters, suggesting they want to maintain influence in the territory despite Israeli and U.S. opposition.
The two Gaza-based officials from Hamas' political leadership spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. They responded in writing to questions from the Times. Their comments came as Hamas and Board of Peace officials were negotiating in Cairo this week.
The Board of Peace has demanded that Hamas give up all of their weapons in exchange for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the reconstruction of vast areas destroyed in the war, which began after Hamas' terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in southern Israel.
Armed struggle against Israel has long been central to Hamas' ideology and a means of staying in power. Many members view any deal in which they would give up their weapons as tantamount to surrender.
Analysts said the officials' statement to the Times represents a shift on disarmament. It could be an initial concession that leads to more or simply an attempt to deflect international pressure.
"Hamas may only be trying to avoid turning down Trump's plan," Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor at Al-Azhar University in Gaza who now lives in Cairo, told the Times. "But if they accept giving up police weapons, it could open the door to further negotiations over the rest of its weapons."
The Hamas-run government in Gaza controls the police and internal security services. The offer from Hamas did not specify which of those services would relinquish weapons in addition to the police, but it might also refer to a domestic intelligence agency.
Hamas officials told the Times that representatives of the group had met three times in Gaza City with other armed factions and government officials to lay the groundwork for transferring the territory's governance to the new administrative committee.
Asked about the group's role in future governance, the officials did not demand Hamas representation in the new Gaza administration. They indicated, however, that Hamas still intend to participate in Palestinian politics and to resist Israel until an independent Palestinian state is established.
Hamas "completed all preparations for a full handover of power," the officials told the Times, with the sole obstacle being the absence of the new administration on the ground in Gaza. The new governing committee has been operating provisionally from Cairo.
In anticipation of the handover, the officials said the authorities in Gaza have frozen new appointments and promotions. They said they expected many Hamas members to be able to reintegrate into the new system of governance.
With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to disarm Hamas by force if necessary, many in Gaza fear a new round of hostilities.
"We, the innocent people in Gaza, want an end to this situation," Saed Abu Aita, 45, told the Times. His two daughters were killed in an Israeli airstrike early in the conflict. He is still displaced from his home in Jabaliya and living with his family in a tent in central Gaza.
"We want Hamas to give up their weapons and the Israelis to withdraw," he said.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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