Israel Holds Firm as Hamas Attempts To Delay Disarmament

Nine months have elapsed since President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip was enshrined by UN Security Council Resolution 2803.

Trump’s plan lays out an explicit vision for a Gaza freed from both Hamas’s arsenal and its brutal rule. Yet rather than welcome the immunity proposed for its operatives if they acquiesce, Hamas is actively trying to warp the course of U.S.-led Gaza peacemaking efforts. Its latest gambit is to surrender or store its heavy weapons only in stages, while delaying the collection of its vast stock of rifles and shifting the onus onto Israel to withdraw. That amounts to a recipe for a permanent Hamas enclave in Gaza.

Hamas Seeks To Exact Heavy Price for Surrendering Heavy Weapons

After lengthy and tortuous negotiations on transitioning from the Gaza ceasefire of October 2025 to a peacemaking process, Hamas announced on July 31 that it would lay down just its heavy weapons — and for a heavy price. Among the conditions the terror group specified were an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian state.

Within hours, Trump hailed what he described as a “monumental step” toward implementing his 20-point peace plan, stipulating that the Palestinian terrorist group would be completely disarmed and that Israeli withdrawals would follow.

The Board of Peace, a multinational body set up to implement the plan, published a 15-point “Roadmap” that detailed the mechanisms for the transition to a post-war Gaza. These include “a step-by-step process linking withdrawal phases to verified decommissioning steps.” It also speaks of “storage” for decommissioned terrorist weapons.

Additionally, the future Palestinian administration in Gaza would be permitted to authorize private gun possession. The possibility has also been raised of police officers currently serving the Hamas regime in Gaza remaining in a new force that will be trained by the International Stabilization Force (ISF), as outlined in the Roadmap.

Board of Peace Assures Israel That Decommissioning Precedes Withdrawal

Israel withheld its formal approval of the Roadmap, with officials saying Jerusalem had misgivings. This prompted a visit by the Board of Peace’s top envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on August 3. “Contrary to inaccurate reports, we note that the withdrawal of the IDF beyond the Yellow Line will take place only once decommissioning is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators. This applies to light weapons, heavy weapons, and the tunnels alike,” the Board of Peace clarified following the meeting.

In parallel, the Israelis also curtailed their airstrikes targeting terrorists wanted over the October 7, 2023, massacre or for planning new attacks. Those operations, which had surged in recent weeks, have largely ceased since the Mladenov visit. According to Israeli media, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir must now personally approve any major kinetic action.

Hamas’s Choice: Disarm or Be Disarmed

In keeping with the negotiating playbook of its political masters in Iran, Hamas apparently believes it can run out the clock until Trump loses interest or leaves office.

Fortunately, the Board of Peace’s plan is being implemented by determined international diplomats. While tying Hamas into the rubric laid out in their Roadmap was a notable achievement, they are now cautiously peeling back the verbiage to remind everyone of the necessary sequencing. Preserving the disarmament-first sequencing in every locale is critical.

Israel is to be commended for suspending operations absent real and present dangers to its troops. Doing so is providing the relative calm needed to keep the dialogue between the mediators and Hamas moving constructively. The current course is for Hamas to capitulate consensually, so military force — while always an option in the future — should remain a last resort for the time being.

And should the terrorists backslide after a partial disarmament, they would possess fewer heavy weapons with which to confront the IDF should the Israeli government dispatch it to finish the job.

Mark Dubowitz is the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Mark and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Mark on X @mdubowitz. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.