Israel said Thursday that Hamas "will be disarmed" as part of the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza, after a top leader from the Palestinian Islamist movement suggested a weapons freeze.

The ceasefire, in effect since October 10, halted the war that began after Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it remains fragile as Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of violations.

Top Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera that the militant group is open to a weapons "freeze", but rejects the demand for total disarmament put forward in Trump's plan for the Palestinian territory.

Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for the Israeli prime minister's office, said "Israel will continue to follow the 20-point plan. There will be no Hamas inside of the Gaza Strip. Hamas will be disarmed".

"The prime minister says this will happen the easy way or the hard way," Bedrosian told journalists in a briefing.

The agreement is composed of three phases. Israeli Prime........

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