World reacts with cautious optimism to Hamas disarmament agreement

Al Jazeera:

Palestinian group Hamas has announced that it has agreed to a deal aimed at fully ending Israel’s war on Gaza, which has inflicted death and destruction on the enclave for nearly three years.

The agreement, which was confirmed on Thursday and Friday by the United States and other mediators, requires Hamas to make provisions to disarm and surrender its weapons in stages. Meanwhile, Israel would withdraw its forces.

The agreement was announced late on Thursday by President Donald Trump, after the US-led Board of Peace and International Stabilization Force for Gaza announced that mediators from Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye and the US had finalised a roadmap for moving on to the next phase of the ceasefire.

A truce deal was struck last October, but has failed to halt the hostilities, albeit the violence has been scaled back.

Trump heralded the deal as “a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza” and “a monumental step toward lasting peace and security”.

However, given the failure of the first phase of the ceasefire, and the deep mistrust between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, concern regarding the likely implementation of the agreement, and the potential for it to end the violence, is rife.