Trump’s Board of Peace presents Hamas with plan to disarm

 Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has presented Hamas with a proposal on how it could lay down its guns.

Under the plan, the terrorist organisation would be expected to hand over heavy weapons such as rocket launchers and share maps of its tunnel network.

The Board of Peace is the international body established by Mr Trump to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza, which was agreed in October.

The plan calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from Gaza and for reconstruction to begin as Hamas lays down its guns.

Talks were continuing in Cairo, and sources said a written proposal for disarming was submitted to Hamas.

The talks were attended by Nickolay Mladenov, the Trump-appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, and Aryeh Lightstone, an aide to Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s special envoy, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The proposal, first reported by National Public Radio (NPR), would see Hamas and other terror groups hand over all their guns as Israel gradually withdraws from Gaza.

Hamas would be expected to hand over heavy weapons as well as details of its tunnel network, but it was unclear how this would happen or whether the terror group would accept the proposal.

Britain has not joined the board of Peace, which has been boycotted by most European countries 

Sir Tony Blair, the former prime minister, is among those who sit on the board, which aims to implement Mr Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza.

The plan calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from Gaza and for reconstruction to begin as Hamas lays down its guns.

Talks were continuing in Cairo, and sources said a written proposal for disarming was submitted to Hamas.

The talks were attended by Nickolay Mladenov, the Trump-appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, and Aryeh Lightstone, an aide to Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s special envoy, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The proposal, first reported by National Public Radio (NPR), would see Hamas and other terror groups hand over all their guns as Israel gradually withdraws from Gaza.

Hamas would be expected to hand over heavy weapons as well as details of its tunnel network, but it was unclear how this would happen or whether the terror group would accept the proposal.

According to NPR, the plan included a framework for the “complete handover” and “full decommissioning” of arms belonging to Hamas and other groups.

Hamas has been asked to respond within about a week and if it accepts it would ensure a large-scale reconstruction of Gaza.

Mr Mladenov said on Thursday that serious efforts were under way to bring relief to war-torn Gaza, with a framework agreed by the mediators that could advance reconstruction in the enclave, much of which lies in ruins.

“It is now on the table. It requires one clear choice: full decommissioning by Hamas and every armed group, with no exceptions and no carve-outs. In this season of hope, may those responsible make the right choice for the Palestinian people,” Mr Mladenov wrote on X in a post for Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday.

Talks on disarmament had been placed on hold at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which began on Feb 28.