The Moment to Disarm Hamas Is Now |
Since the Gaza war officially ended in October 2025, the central question has been whether the partial ceasefire could be transformed into a genuine political and security transition – or whether Gaza would remain trapped between continued Israeli military control, Hamas’s armed presence and the absence of a functioning alternative government with more than two million Gazans being held hostage by Hamas and by Israel.
The reported agreement on the disarmament of Hamas may now provide the first serious answer to that question. It could become the most important diplomatic breakthrough since the war ended. Both Israel and Hamas are already disputing what was accepted, and each side is presenting conditions that appear to contradict those of the other.
Nevertheless, something fundamental has changed.
For the first time, Hamas and the other Palestinian factions have reportedly accepted a structured process leading to the removal of their weapons, the transfer of civilian and security authority to a new Palestinian administration, and the replacement of armed factional rule with a Palestinian government, a new police force, international verification and an International Stabilization Force. President Donald Trump has described the agreement as providing for the complete disarmament of Hamas, although Hamas representatives continue to condition implementation on an Israeli withdrawal.
The agreement has become possible because Hamas is now at its weakest point since taking control of Gaza in 2007.
Militarily, politically, administratively and financially, Hamas has been devastated. It no longer possesses the governing capacity it once exercised. Its financial system is effectively bankrupt. It has struggled to pay salaries and pensions, including those owed to tens of thousands of people connected to the former Gaza administration. Resolving the status of those employees appears to have been one of the difficult issues in the negotiations.
The emerging formula is both necessary and sensible. People who worked in civilian ministries, hospitals, schools, municipalities and public services – and who had no involvement in Hamas’s military wing or terrorist activity – should not automatically be excluded from Gaza’s future. Those employees should undergo professional and security vetting. Where they are qualified and cleared, they should be permitted to continue serving the Palestinian public under the authority of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG.
Gaza cannot be rebuilt by dismissing every teacher, engineer, doctor, sanitation worker or civil servant who worked under the previous government. The purpose of the transition must be to remove Hamas’s armed control and political domination, not to dismantle what remains of Palestinian society.
I understand that Gulf countries have apparently played a role in finding a solution for unpaid salaries and pensions. That may seem like a secondary administrative matter, but it is not. Governments and armed movements do not disappear simply because their leaders sign a document. A peaceful transition requires an alternative source of authority, employment, public services and financial stability. People must see that surrendering factional control does not mean surrendering their ability to feed their families.
Hamas has also been subjected to enormous external pressure.
Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye did not merely facilitate talks. They pressed Hamas to make decisions that it........