CAIRO: Hamas would be required to allow the destruction of its vast Gaza tunnel network as it lays down its arms in stages over eight months under a disarmament plan presented by US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”.

The plan follows a timeline that begins with a US-backed committee of Palestinian technocrats taking security control of Gaza and concludes with Israeli forces withdrawing completely upon “verification that Gaza is free of weaponry”.

Hamas’s disarmament is a critical sticking point in talks to implement Trump’s plan for Gaza and cement an October ceasefire that halted two years of full-blown war.

Hamas has long rejected calls to lay down its weapons. Israel says it will not agree to withdraw from Gaza unless Hamas is fully disarmed first.

A Palestinian official close to the talks said the plan was “unfair”, expecting Hamas would seek some “amendments and improvements”.

The official said the plan did not provide guarantees Israel would carry out its obligations. It would risk causing the war to resume by linking reconstruction and improvements to living conditions to the political issues such as disarmament, the official said.

One authority, one law, one weapon

The Board of Peace presented the plan to Hamas last week.

Hamas has not commented publicly on it; a Hamas official said the group was studying it.

On Thursday, three other Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad, issued statements criticising the plan, saying it unfairly prioritised disarmament over issues such as reconstruction and Israeli withdrawal.

The plan includes two components: a 12-point document titled “Steps to complete the implementation of Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza”, and a five-stage timeline during which Hamas would surrender its arms over eight months.

The first component says that all armed factions in Gaza, including groups such as Islamic Jihad, will participate in a disarmament process that will be overseen by Palestinian technocrats, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

“Gaza will be governed under the principle of one authority, one law, one weapon, whereby only individuals authorised by (NCAG) may possess weapons, and all armed factions will cease military activities,” the document says.

The disarmament process will be “verified by a “weapons collection verification committee”, a body that will be set up by Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s lead envoy, the document says.

Reconstruction will only be allowed in areas that are designated as demilitarised, it says.

The October ceasefire left Israel in control of well over half of Gaza, with Hamas keeping a firm grip on the other half of the enclave.

Hamas, committed to armed resistance and sworn to Israel’s destruction, has publicly rejected calls to disarm in recent months. But in private, Hamas officials have voiced openness to disarmament so long as it is done along a political track that would see the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2026