Hamas says it will disarm if Israel halts strikes and withdraws from Gaza, but obstacles remain

CAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Friday that it will begin disarming as part of a deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump that also requires Israel to end its strikes and withdraw from Gaza. It marks a potential breakthrough in ending the war, but implementation faces major challenges.

Hamas also said that laying down its heavy weapons, which would come later in the process, was contingent on the creation of a Palestinian state, something Israel's current government adamantly rejects.

Israel has not officially commented on the deal, which is part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced last October. That agreement called for Hamas to disarm and hand over power to an independent Palestinian administration. Israel was to withdraw, and an International Stabilization Force was to deploy.

But progress stalled, with Israel saying everything hinged on Hamas disarming, and Hamas accusing Israel of violating the agreement by continuing to carry out regular strikes on Gaza.

Disarming would represent a sea change for Hamas, whose founding charter calls for armed resistance against Israel, and which sees its arsenal, including rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosives, as lying at the heart of its identity.

Israel meanwhile appears unlikely to pull back significant forces or make other concessions ahead of its October elections. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a tough reelection battle, with opponents accusing him of failing to prevent the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.

In announcing the latest deal on social media, Trump said it would be carried out in “carefully structured phases.”

“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,” he wrote.

A copy of the agreement obtained and verified by The Associated Press said that all weapons held by the Hamas-run police will be transferred to the U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic committee, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, upon its arrival in the enclave. It’s not clear when that would happen since it is contingent on other steps.

A process to decommission and store heavy weapons, military production sites and tunnels will begin after the arrival of the Palestinian committee and the deployment of international forces. The process will be linked to a phased Israeli withdrawal from the parts of Gaza it controls, according to the agreement.

Israel currently controls around 60% of Gaza, areas that have been mostly destroyed and depopulated. Most of the territory's 2 million Palestinians are in the other part, where hundreds of thousands live in squalid tent camps and destroyed neighborhoods.

In a statement Thursday, an Israeli official said that there will be no Israeli withdrawal before the militant group is disarmed and the strip demilitarized. The statement was made on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.

A person with knowledge of the situation said that Israel is fully involved, but it's not a signatory to the deal, which is between Hamas and several countries helping to negotiate and guarantee the ceasefire. The person spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the agreement. The deal's guarantors are the U.S., Turkey, Egypt and Qatar.

On Thursday, U.S. and Board of Peace officials, describing the deal to reporters on condition of anonymity under guidelines set by the White House, gave an extremely optimistic assessment. The board was established by Trump to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza.

While Gaza's police force is expected to hand over its arms, that doesn't include the vast majority of Hamas militants, and heavy weaponry is not included in that part of the agreement, according to the officials.

Instead, the surrender of heavy weapons and the decommissioning of Hamas tunnels and other infrastructure are to come later in a process that could take between 200 and 350 days, a Board of Peace official said. That timeline did not appear in the agreement obtained by AP.

The Hamas official and the regional official involved in the process said that Hamas and other groups agreed to “collect and store” arms inside Gaza under the supervision of the Palestinian technocratic committee and that weapons won’t be handed to Israel or non-Palestinian parties.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, said this would be a gradual process linked to an Israeli withdrawal.

A U.S. official said Israel, which has been deeply skeptical about Hamas’ willingness to give up its guns or relinquish control of Gaza, had been consulted at every step of the negotiation.

However, the official said Israel was not being asked to do anything more than what it had initially committed to when it agreed to Trump’s 20-point plan, which essentially involves withdrawing its forces from Gaza and committing to ending airstrikes on the territory.

A member of the Palestinian technocratic committee told the AP on Friday that it was eager to enter Gaza but was concerned Israel will pose challenges. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The person said they didn’t expect to enter Gaza for at least two months.

The committee welcomed the progress Friday, but said the work to restore public institutions and services and rebuild the territory would be immense.

The war in Gaza began after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government and is staffed by medical professionals, does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its toll but says women and children make up around half of all deaths.

Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, Cooper from Phoenix, and Lee from Washington. Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri in New York and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

Palestinian barber Mousa al-Kharibi gives a man a haircut inside a tent, by the rubble of buildings that were destroyed during the Israel Hamas war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian man rides his bicycle by the rubble of buildings that were destroyed during the Israel Hamas war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian walk by the rubble of buildings that were destroyed during the Israel Hamas war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian man rides his bicycle by the rubble of buildings that were destroyed during the Israel Hamas war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

FILE - President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Hagerstown Regional Airport, in Hagerstown, Md., en route to Camp David, Md., June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

A Palestinian man rides his bicycle by the rubble of buildings that were destroyed during the Israel Hamas war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Doctors have amputated both of Australian federal lawmaker Helen Haines ' legs as she remains in critical condition after being repeatedly hit by a car in an apparent act of political violence, her husband said Wednesday.

The 65-year-old independent politician is receiving treatment in a Melbourne hospital where she was flown by helicopter.

Phil Haines, her husband, gave the family’s first public comments on her condition since she was hit by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV in her hometown of Wangaratta on Monday, speaking hours after a man accused of running her over made an initial appearance in court.

Haines' husband said her left leg was amputated on Monday and her right leg was amputated on Wednesday after doctors abandoned hope of saving it.

“The good news in all this is that Helen is alive and she’s stable. That is the most important thing for our family,” the husband told reporters in Melbourne.

“We are grateful and thankful that at this stage, both her heart and her mind are in good shape,” he said.

He added that their 40th wedding anniversary will be in November.

Earlier Wednesday, Brendan Nugent, a 43-year-old man from nearby Tarrawingee, appeared in the Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court charged with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a federal official.

Nugent didn’t apply for bail or enter a plea. He will remain in custody until his next court appearance in February. Police have yet to determine a motive.

Nugent's lawyer Chirag Patel told Magistrate Allison Vaughan that his client was suffering from potential mental health issues but had never been diagnosed with any mental health problem.

Patel said Nugent suffered from a neurological condition, idiopathic transverse myelitis, and a concussion. The lawyer did not explain how Nugent had been concussed.

The rare condition damages the spinal cord’s protective myelin sheath and disrupts nerve signals between the brain and body. This leads to rapid muscle weakness, sensory loss, pain, and bladder and bowel dysfunction, according to the Cleveland Clinic medical center.

Witnesses say the driver rammed his victim, pinning her against her own car before reversing and ramming her a second time.

The well-regarded lawmaker's plight has shocked Australians, as political violence is uncommon in the country and politicians are highly accessible to the public. Most lawmakers are not accompanied by security details and go about their work and personal lives on their own.

Senior opposition lawmaker James Paterson on Wednesday called for a review of lawmakers’ personal security in response to the alleged crime.

“The reality is that Australian parliamentarians by global standards are uniquely accessible to the public and that’s a good thing,” Paterson told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“But we … can’t have a situation where shocking attacks like this take place because that will fundamentally change our democracy forever if it becomes a serious risk to your life to be a member of parliament,” Paterson added.

But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged lawmakers to continue to engage openly with the public despite worsening animosity within the community.

“We want to make sure that people can feel as much comfort as possible that everything’s being done to maximize security,” Albanese told News24.

“I think parliamentarians across the board are determined to make sure that we can continue to engage as we need to in this great democracy of ours,” Albanese added. “That interaction is really important in our democracy.”

Lawmakers began online meetings with Australia’s security agencies on Wednesday to discuss their safety. Such briefings are a regular occurrence.

Albanese described the briefings as an “opportunity for people who feel anxious to be able to ask questions” of security agencies.

Australian Federal Police provide personal security only to those lawmakers who are assessed as higher risk, usually because they have attracted the attention of dangerous people. Prime ministers always have personal protection and immigration ministers often do because they anger people with visa decisions.

Paterson said providing police protection to all 226 federal lawmakers would not be practical. But he suggested increased security at electorate offices, such as Haines’ office where she was hit. Paterson said lawmakers were “most identifiable” at their offices. Coming and going could be a “risky moment.”

Federal Police Commissioner Kissy Barrett told reporters providing police protection to all parliamentarians would take an “incredible amount of resourcing.”

Police received 1,067 reports of threatening, harassing, nuisance and offensive communications against high officeholders including federal lawmakers and their office staff in the last fiscal year — a 12% increase on the previous year. Barrett said almost one suspect a week was charged over such threats.

Elsewhere in the world, authorities have warned of growing threats to lawmakers. The United States has seen a rise in political violence over the past decade.

That includes the 2022 hammer assault on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, as well as another on the president at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April; and the assassinations in 2025 of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, and of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

In Britain, killings of politicians have also led to tighter security. Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, while Conservative David Amess was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the militant Islamic State group.

In July, the former British politician and reality TV contestant Ann Widdecombe was found beaten to death with a hammer at her home. A man has been charged with murder and terrorism-related offenses.

Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.

Brendan Nugent departs from the Wangaratta Magistrates Court in Wangaratta, Australia, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Australian independent member of parliament Helen Haines speaks at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

Phil Haines, husband of independent member of parliament Helen Haines, speaks to the media at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AAPImage via AP)