Washington [US], March 28: United States envoys have presented a written demand for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all its allied Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip, as part of a plan to ensure what experts say is the complete "political surrender" of the group.
The document, presented by US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" during meetings in Cairo in mid-March, advances a controversial US vision for the enclave, as Israel's ongoing war and military occupation continue to ravage the territory and its two million residents, in the aftermath of its two-year genocidal campaign that killed more than 72,000 people, mostly children and women. Thousands more are missing, lost under the rubble, and believed dead.
According to media reports, the proposal pushes forward Trump's 20-point plan, centred on the second phase of the US-brokered October "ceasefire" agreement for Gaza. Under the US framework, Israeli troops - which currently occupy more than half of the enclave - will withdraw, and reconstruction will begin only once Hamas and other armed groups surrender their weapons.
Appearing before the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, Nickolay Mladenov, the Trump-appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, urged Palestinian factions to accept the framework "without delay". He claimed the disarmament process rests on "reciprocity", stating that "decommissioning proceeds in parallel with staged withdrawal".
However, rather than a genuine diplomatic proposal, Palestinian factions and political observers view the US plan as a coercive ultimatum designed to bypass previous agreements and enforce a one-sided reality.
Wesam Afifa, a Gaza-based political analyst who has closely followed the Cairo meetings, noted that the proposed document has been presented as more of a "threat message" than a negotiating initiative.
Afifa pointed out that the new US approach abandons Israel's and the US's obligations laid out under previous agreements in favour of a sweeping demand for the surrender of all weapons, including personal firearms, and links the enclave's desperately needed reconstruction directly to this condition.
According to sources close to Hamas, quoted by Reuters, the group is highly unlikely to relinquish its rifles, fearing vulnerability to rival armed factions operating in Gaza, some of which reportedly receive backing from Israel.
While the US plan demands all groups disarm, Hamas fears Israel will turn a blind eye to, or even actively arm, rival clan-based armed groups to police the Strip.
Source: Qatar Tribune
