US President Donald Trump declared that Hamas had agreed to lay down its arms, and much of the international media echoed the announcement as though a final agreement had already been reached. The statement suggested that the Palestinian resistance had finally accepted Israeli and American terms.

The negotiations themselves tell a different story.

Neither the 15-point draft currently under discussion nor the public statements issued by Hamas leaders support the claim that the movement has agreed to unilateral disarmament. What exists is a framework for negotiations whose implementation depends on reciprocal commitments carried out in carefully sequenced phases. The principal disagreement is not whether there should be an agreement, but in what order each side must fulfil its obligations.

Israel has yet to formally endorse the proposal and continues to raise reservations while simultaneously maintaining its military campaign in Gaza.

According to the draft published by Middle East Eye, the proposed roadmap includes a permanent ceasefire, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian administration and international mechanisms to oversee implementation. Only within this broader process does the document envisage discussions on future security arrangements, including the question of the weapons held by the Palestinian resistance.

Israel seeks to reverse that sequence.........

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