The deal for Hamas's disarmament has been met with cautious optimism by Palestinians, but many are questioning why the armed group did not reach an agreement before nearly three years of war with Israel devastated the territory.
The framework, announced after weeks of talks between Hamas and mediators, is being presented as a mechanism for implementing the Gaza agreement signed in Sharm El Sheikh in October 2025. While it is being viewed as a significant step towards ending the war, many Gazans say any progress has come after irreparable losses.
For Mohammad Abu Nasr, a resident of the Al Saftawi neighbourhood in northern Gaza, the timing of the agreement is as important as its content.
“Hamas has made many mistakes that have come at the expense of the Palestinian people,” he told The National. “From the very beginning, it should have taken this step and made concessions for the sake of the people in Gaza.”
He does not hold Hamas solely responsible for the war, calling Israel's actions “violent and devastating”. But he adds: “Every step has come too late, while the people have paid the price.”
More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war broke out after a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Most of the enclave has been reduced to rubble and Gazans are enduring acute food and water shortages. Much of the population remains displaced after sustained bombardment destroyed their homes.
Israel and Hamas agreed on a US-brokered ceasefire in October last year but Israeli attacks continue and troops remain in Gaza.
Amina Abu Qassem, a 34-year-old Arabic language teacher and mother of four, told The National: “I would have been very happy about this new agreement if it had come before I lost my home, my husband and my two brothers.”
She said her home in Gaza city's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood survived the initial stages of the war but was destroyed in an Israeli strike months after the October 2025 agreement. About a month later, her husband was killed in another strike in Gaza city. Her two brothers had been killed earlier in the war, when their family home in the Al Nasr neighbourhood was bombed.
She believes Hamas should have accepted similar terms years earlier if it was ultimately prepared to do so.
“We should not have had to wait nearly three years while allowing all this destruction and bloodshed to devastate our people,” she said.
Significant breakthrough
The announcement of the deal was made by US President Donald Trump and his envoy to the Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, on Thursday.
Mr Trump, chairman of the board of Peace, which was founded when a ceasefire was declared in Gaza, called the agreement a “monumental step” towards lasting security.
Under the agreement, Hamas is set to completely disarm and hand over its weapons into the care of the mediators and the International Stabilisation Force, authorised by the UN.
Several obstacles remain and whether Israel will accept the deal remains to be seen. Political analyst Mustafa Ibrahim questioned whether Israel is genuinely committed to carrying out the road map, noting the absence of an official Israeli endorsement.
Like many residents interviewed, he believes Hamas could have accepted a similar framework much earlier.
“The proposals being discussed now are fundamentally the same as those presented months ago,” he said. “The question is not only what has been achieved, but what price was paid for the delay.”
Even if implementation proceeds, Mr Ibrahim said, reconstruction, security arrangements, governance reforms and the issue of weapons will likely require years to resolve, while Gaza's humanitarian, economic and social scars may persist for decades.
“What happens next matters even more. Implementation and verification have to be real. Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning,” Mr Mladenov said in a post on X.
