US Demilitarization Plan May Leave Hamas Armed

The United States is demanding that Hamas surrender all weapons capable of striking Israel but would allow the terror group to retain some small arms, at least initially, according to a draft plan reported Tuesday by the The New York Times.

The newspaper, citing officials and people familiar with the proposal, said the document remains in draft form and is subject to change. It is expected to be shared with Hamas within weeks by an American-led team that includes Jared Kushner, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, and former senior United Nations official Nickolay Mladenov.

Demilitarization is a central component of President Donald Trump’s 20-point framework for Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that without full disarmament of Hamas terrorists, Israel will not agree to a complete withdrawal of its forces from Gaza or move forward with large-scale reconstruction plans.

According to the NYT report, the draft requires Hamas to surrender all weapons “capable of striking Israel.” It was not immediately clear how such weapons would be collected, who would take custody of them, or what enforcement mechanism would oversee the process.

The report states that the proposal builds on principles publicly discussed by Kushner in January in Davos, Switzerland, where he said “heavy weapons” would be “decommissioned immediately” as part of the demilitarization effort. Under that presentation, unspecified “personal arms” would be registered and decommissioned at the direction of a new Palestinian technocratic body expected to assume administrative control in Gaza.

White House spokesman Dylan Johnson did not directly address the specific draft details but said the United States remains committed to implementation of the broader framework. “The United States is working closely with all parties and mediators to ensure full implementation of the plan and to advance a durable security framework that supports long-term stability in the region and prosperity for Gaza,” he said.

Israel has publicly insisted on full demilitarization however. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously told the Knesset that Hamas would be disarmed “the easy way or the hard way, but it will happen.” Israeli officials have also said that Hamas continues to possess tens of thousands of rifles and maintains an extensive tunnel network that forms part of its military infrastructure.

Hamas leaders have rejected calls to disarm. Khaled Mashaal, the group’s top external political leader, described disarmament as “an attempt to make [Gazans] an easy victim to be eliminated and easily exterminated by Israel” during remarks at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha. He added that while reconstruction and relief efforts are necessary, they should not come through “an approach of disarmament.” In separate remarks, Mashaal stated, “As long as there’s an occupation, there’s resistance.”

Separately, Reuters has reported that U.S. officials told the United Nations the demilitarization framework could include an internationally funded weapons buyback and reintegration program, along with international monitoring of the destruction of Hamas military infrastructure. Reuters also reported that some potential donor countries have expressed hesitation about funding reconstruction absent clarity on Hamas’s disarmament.

The NYT emphasized that the proposal remains a draft and that key details could change. It is unclear whether Hamas would agree to the phased approach, how small arms would be tracked, or whether Israel would accept anything short of full and immediate disarmament.