The US has told the UN Security Council that further Israeli troop withdrawals from Gaza will depend on Hamas disarming under an internationally funded weapons buyback program.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the initiative would include permanently decommissioning weapons through an agreed process overseen by independent international partners.
He noted that the work to urge compliance from the militant group will be overseen by the so-called “Board of Peace,” which consists of 26 countries, alongside the US-sponsored technocrat authority the Palestinian National Committee.
“Hamas must not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly or indirectly, in any form. Period,” Waltz told the UN council.
“All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt.”
The UN’s latest tally showed that Hamas remains “heavily armed,” with “thousands of rockets and anti-tank missiles and tens of thousands of assault rifles” in its stockpile.
Specifying part of small arms, Tel Aviv’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said that the group “still holds roughly 60,000 assault rifles,” according to Reuters.
Broader Demilitarization
Waltz’s announcement is intended to apply pressure on Hamas to completely remove its troop concentration and corresponding equipment from Gaza, even as the freedom fighters currently control just under half of the region.
It aligns with a 2025 ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump, which includes a 20-point peace plan that promises a gradual Israeli Defense Forces fall back in exchange for Hamas giving up its weapons.
The militant group has already agreed to discuss disarmament with other Palestinian factions and mediators in previous talks, but two Hamas officials claimed that neither Washington nor intermediaries have presented a detailed proposal, Reuters reported.
A US official noted that future disarmament discussions could include some form of amnesty.
To support the upcoming milestones, the UN Security Council has authorized the Board of Peace to deploy a temporary “International Stabilization Force.”
That unit is tasked with establishing control and enabling Israeli pullout, with benchmarks to be set by itself, Tel Aviv, and ceasefire guarantors US, Egypt, and Qatar.
