By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland, Bo Erickson and Kanishka Singh
CAIRO/WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said talks in Cairo between mediators and Hamas leaders on Thursday have led to a phased disarmament agreement in Gaza, but a Hamas official described the deal as a draft and U.S. officials said Israel was skeptical the militant Palestinian group would surrender its weapons.
"Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas
and all other armed groups in Gaza," Trump said in a social media post, adding that the disarmament would come in phases. "This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY."
The agreement was a critical step towards Gaza being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the so-called Board of Peace, Trump said. "At the same time, Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks," he added.
The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's announcement.
A Hamas source told Reuters the "draft agreement" stipulates that heavy weapons would only be stored and kept under the control of a Palestinian administration, and the weapons cannot be transferred to Israel.
"We will not take any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel's withdrawal from the Strip," Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas negotiating team, told Al Jazeera.
A U.S. official on Thursday told reporters that Israel is "very skeptical that Hamas will disarm."
"We're very confident they will adhere to it," the U.S. official added. "If they don't, obviously President Trump would be very, very disappointed."
There were also questions about how long the process would take. A Board of Peace official gave an estimate of 200 to 320 days, but a U.S. official played down that timeline.
An Israeli official, who declined to be identified, said before Trump's announcement Israel had rejected a proposal.
"Israel demands the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and the complete demilitarization of the Strip as a precondition for any process," the official said earlier on Thursday.
"The 15-point document in question does not provide a satisfactory response to these demands and Israel conveyed its objections."
Earlier, Israeli strikes killed at least six Palestinians in Gaza, including two children, medics said.
A ROADMAP TOWARDS HAMAS DISARMAMENT?
Hamas leaders held talks with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey on the second phase of Trump's Gaza plan, as presented to them by his Board of Peace.
Trump set up the board to oversee a plan to end Israel's war in Gaza and rebuild the devastated territory. He appointed members of the board with himself as chair and said last year that the board will supervise Gaza's temporary governance.
"Ahead of us is a Gaza rebuilt, governed by Palestinians and at peace with Israel an a political horizon to a meaningful resolution the Israeli Palestinian conflict," Nickolay Mladenov, Trump's Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, said in a statement after the president's post.
Officials involved in the talks shared few details about plans to rebuild Gaza.
The plan also calls for a surge in humanitarian aid, governance by a civilian Palestinian administration, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the deployment of an international force to help maintain security.
HANDOVER OF WEAPONS COULD BE STICKING POINT
The reality on the ground in Gaza, so far, remains far from the goals of the agreement.
Hamas wants Israel to commit to ending attacks on Gaza and withdraw its forces.
It is not yet clear what will happen regarding light or personal weapons or whether the new Hamas stance will be accepted by Israel or the Board of Peace.
The plan includes the elimination of tunnels, arms stockpiles and weapons production facilities, a diplomat involved in the talks said, adding that by the end of the process there would be no remaining militant infrastructure in Gaza.
"This isn't really a trust deal," a U.S. official said on Thursday, calling the agreement a "conditions-based deal."
The Israeli military has continued to expand its military occupation of Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Israel intends to expand the area under its control to 70% of the enclave.
It remains unclear how many forces would be available to deploy with the planned International Stabilization Force, and whether Israeli troops would withdraw from the enclave.
ATTACKS CONTINUE
Health officials said separate Israeli strikes had killed at least two children, a woman and three men in Gaza on Thursday. The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants in the enclave.
The ceasefire in Gaza has been repeatedly violated, with more than 1,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, being killed by Israeli attacks and four Israeli soldiers being killed by militants since the truce began in October, according to Gaza health officials and Israeli authorities, respectively.
Hamas does not usually disclose its losses.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland, Bo Erickson and Kanishka Singh; Additional reporting by Ahmed Shalaby in Cairo; Steven Scheer and Alex Cornwell in Jerusalem; Bo Erickson and Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Gareth Jones, Kate Mayberry, Jason Neely, Toby Chopra and Lincoln Feast.)
