Trump-Gaza latest: Hamas says it has agreed to disarm after US president claims ‘major milestone’ in Middle East

Eleven days after Khalil Al-Hayya was appointed the new leader of Hamas, the militant group has agreed to disarm.

Al-Hayya, 65, was central to ceasefire talks throughout the war.

Hailing from the Gaza Strip, Al-Hayya is a veteran member of the group and is regarded as having good ties with Iran, which is a vital source of weapons and money for Hamas. He has long been closely involved in the group’s efforts to broker several truces with Israel, playing a key role in ending a 2014 conflict.

Al-Hayya has been part of Hamas since it was set up in 1987. In the early 1980s, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood, the Sunni Islamist movement from which Hamas emerged, along with Haniyeh and Sinwar, Hamas sources say.

In Gaza, he was detained several times by Israel.

He is known as the “father of the martyrs” after losing several family members to Israeli attacks.

In 2007, an Israeli airstrike hit his family home in Gaza City’s Shejaia quarter, killing several of his relatives. In 2008, his son Hamza was killed by an Israeli airstrike.

In the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel, the house of Mr Hayya’s eldest son Osama was bombed, killing him, his wife and three of their children.

A senior Hamas official has told the BBC that the group has in fact agreed to disarm.

The parties in the Israel-Hamas war have agreed to a “historic” framework paving the way to rebuild Gaza and remake its government, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.

The parties in the Israel-Hamas war have agreed to a “historic” framework paving the way to rebuild Gaza and remake its government, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.

The deal includes the “COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

Hamas communicated via mediators that it has agreed to the terms of the multi-step road map, U.S. and Board of Peace officials told The Independent.

Iran says it has launched drone strikes targeting US military facilities at Kuwait’s Ahmad Al Jaber Air Base in retaliation for recent American attacks, including a strike on a residential home on Qeshm Island.

According to Iranian state media, the operation targeted aircraft hangars, satellite communications systems and equipment warehouses. There has been no immediate confirmation from US or Kuwaiti authorities on the reported attack.

A drone strike that set two gas vessels on fire at Egypt’s Damietta port has heightened concerns over the security of shipping through the nearby Suez Canal, a key route for global trade and Saudi oil exports.

Egyptian authorities said an unidentified drone caused the attack, while Iran denied any involvement.

The incident comes as tensions in the region continue to escalate, prompting London’s marine insurance market to expand its “high risk” zone in the Red Sea and Saudi Arabia to propose a multinational maritime defence coalition to protect shipping routes.

Meanwhile, Iraq said it had no prior knowledge of recent US-Saudi strikes on its territory, amid fears the conflict could draw more countries into the war.

Iran’s army says it carried out a drone strike targeting US military facilities at Kuwait’s Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base in retaliation for recent American strikes.

In a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency, the military said the attack targeted aircraft hangars, satellite communications systems and equipment warehouses using drones.

Iran said the operation was in response to a US strike on a residential home on Qeshm Island, adding that the airbase serves as a key hub for US aerial surveillance and operational support in the region.

Donald Trump described the agreement as “a major milestone” in the implementation of his 20-point peace plan for Gaza, saying it would be carried out in carefully structured phases.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “This agreement is a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the Board of Peace to help the Palestinian people. At the same time, Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks.

“As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.”

Trump also added: “The threat that emerged from Gaza on October 7 will NOT be allowed to rebuild!“Under this agreement, Gaza will finally be in the hands of a new Palestinian government that serves its PEOPLE.”

Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s director-general and high representative for Gaza, said the agreement followed months of difficult negotiations and stressed that its success would depend on implementation.

In a post on X, he wrote: “Today, agreement has been reached on the decommissioning of weapons and civilian transition in Gaza. It took months of very difficult negotiations to get here.”

“There were several points when I did not believe we would make it…” he added.

Mladenov said the next stage would be crucial, writing: “What the agreement says matters. What happens next matters even more. Implementation and verification have to be real. Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning.”

He also said the agreement could pave the way for a rebuilt Gaza governed by Palestinians and a broader political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding: “Ahead of us is a Gaza rebuilt, governed by Palestinians and at peace with Israel an a political horizon to a meaningful resolution the Israeli Palestinian conflict. That is the work now.”

Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has described the proposed Gaza agreement as a “historic breakthrough” and said its attention is now turning to implementation.

In a statement, the board said Hamas had committed “for the first time” to an actionable plan to relinquish its weapons, to be followed by an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

“It holds the promise of delivering significant benefits to the people of Gaza, who have waited for too long for a better future, and security to the people of Israel,” it said, according to the Guardian.

A senior Hamas negotiator has said the group’s agreement to disarm is conditional on Israel fulfilling its commitments under the proposed deal.

Ghazi Hamad said in a statement carried by the Guardian that the framework links Hamas’s weapons to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, the establishment of a national committee to administer the territory and reconstruction efforts.

“If Israel does not implement the agreement, neither will we,” Hamad said, adding that Hamas would discuss implementation details with mediators before agreeing on a timetable.