Rushdi Abualouf: If Hamas disarmament plan holds, it could mark first credible step to ending Gaza war

What the report says

BBC World News reports that Hamas has accepted, for the first time, a framework under the Board of Peace plan that would lead to its full disarmament in Gaza. According to BBC Gaza correspondent Rushdi Abualouf, reporting from Cairo, the proposal would see Hamas’s remaining heavy weapons catalogued and stored under Palestinian supervision. The BBC says this could remove a central barrier to progress on a Trump-backed peace initiative for Gaza.

The development follows months of negotiations and comes shortly after Hamas completed internal leadership elections, with Gaza-based Khalil al-Hayya emerging as head of the movement. Palestinian officials involved in the discussions told the BBC that Hamas’s new leadership was ready to make what they viewed as a historic political decision, shaped by the severe humanitarian crisis facing more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.

A senior Hamas official on the negotiating team told the BBC the talks were protracted and difficult, and that Hamas pushed for language describing “inventorying and storing” weapons under Palestinian oversight rather than surrendering them to Israel. The BBC cautions that it is not yet clear whether the plan will be carried out or whether all sides will meet their obligations.

The report says the announcement has drawn muted reaction in Gaza, where many residents remain sceptical after repeated ceasefire failures and broken agreements. The significance of the plan, if implemented, is that it could become an early credible step toward ending a war that has continued for nearly three years and potentially create space for a wider political process.