International bodies set to administer the Gaza Strip expect to complete its disarmament within three to five months. As first reported by Israel Hayom, the "Board of Peace" led by President Donald Trump is expected to present Hamas with an ultimatum demanding that it agrees to disarm in the coming days.
The ultimatum will include an explicit requirement for Hamas to hand over all types of weapons in its possession, not merely as a symbolic gesture. Hamas will be given a short period of time to respond on whether it accepts the demand.
If the response is positive, the policing forces operating on behalf of the "technocratic committee" that is to run Gaza would be responsible for collecting all weapons held by Hamas, including rifles, rockets, explosive devices and other arms. In other words, neither the IDF nor the International Stabilization Force (ISF) would carry out the collection. Instead, it would be handled by a Palestinian police force that has been trained in recent months in Egypt. The assessment is that this process would take between three and five months.
Senior officials familiar with the details stressed in conversations with Israel Hayom that all parties understand full disarmament of the Gaza Strip and the stripping of Hamas of its weapons are an essential and critical condition for implementing the peace plan. Without this, there will be no progress in Gaza's reconstruction, and the international community will not transfer funds for that purpose.
According to the officials, this is a fundamental principle agreed upon by all parties, including Arab states. They added that skepticism is understandable, but assessed that just as diplomatic pressure led Hamas to release the hostages and agree to an end to the war, it is possible that Hamas will also cooperate in this case. If the optimistic scenario does not materialize, the officials added that there is also agreement among the international bodies that Israel would receive authorization to disarm Hamas by force.
