Photo illustration – Hamas’s disarmament must be verified—but Netanyahu cannot keep moving the goalposts when Gaza’s future hangs in the balance.
Is Netanyahu genuinely seeking the disarmament of Hamas—or using it as an impossible condition because continuing the war serves his political interests?
By: The Editorial Board, Opinion
Hamas has now repeated directly to Jared Kushner what it previously told the mediators: it accepts President Donald Trump’s Gaza roadmap, is prepared to relinquish political control and is willing to transfer its weapons to the Palestinian authority established to govern Gaza.
That does not mean Hamas should suddenly be trusted. Its conduct must be tested, its weapons inventoried and its military infrastructure dismantled under strict international supervision. But when an adversary accepts the very conditions Israel has demanded—including disarmament and exclusion from Gaza’s future government—the rational response is to begin a verifiable implementation process.
Instead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting that Hamas surrender all its weapons before Israel withdraws any further from Gaza.
That is not the sequence envisioned by the American plan. The roadmap links Hamas’s disarmament to a phased Israeli withdrawal, with each step verified before the next proceeds. It was designed this way because neither side trusts the other—and because demanding complete unilateral compliance from one side before the other fulfills any of its obligations is a recipe for permanent war.
Netanyahu is asking Hamas to do what Hamas says it has agreed to do, while rejecting the mechanism through which it would be done.
What more does he reasonably expect?
Israel has every right to insist that Gaza never again be controlled by an armed Hamas. The atrocities of October 7 cannot be forgotten, and no responsible peace arrangement can permit Hamas to rebuild its military capabilities. But Israel’s security cannot require the indefinite occupation and destruction of Gaza after a credible, internationally supervised alternative has been placed on the table.
Hamas’s offer must be tested—not dismissed.
The Palestinian technical committee should enter Gaza and assume civil authority. Hamas should provide a complete inventory of its weapons and military facilities. Weapons should then be surrendered, stored or destroyed under international verification. A new Palestinian police force, supported by an international stabilization force, should take responsibility for security as Israeli troops withdraw in agreed stages.
If Hamas cheats, refuses inspections or attempts to preserve a hidden military structure, the world will know who sabotaged the agreement. Israel would retain the political and diplomatic legitimacy to respond.
But if Netanyahu refuses even to begin the process, responsibility for prolonging the war will increasingly fall on his government.
The question must therefore be asked: Is Netanyahu genuinely seeking the disarmament of Hamas—or is he using disarmament as a condition that can never be satisfied because continued war serves his political interests?
Israel is approaching another election. Netanyahu remains dependent upon hard-line political forces that oppose a complete withdrawal from Gaza and reject meaningful Palestinian self-government. Accepting Trump’s plan could end the war, but it could also fracture Netanyahu’s governing coalition and deprive him of the permanent emergency that has helped sustain his political career.
That is not a legitimate reason to condemn Israelis and Palestinians to continuing bloodshed.
President Trump should now insist that both parties begin implementation simultaneously. No blank checks should be given to Hamas, but none should be given to Netanyahu either. American leverage must be used to enforce the agreement—not permit either side to rewrite it unilaterally.
This may be the best opportunity yet to remove Hamas from power, disarm Gaza, withdraw Israeli forces, establish legitimate Palestinian administration and begin reconstruction. Rejecting it without testing it would not strengthen Israel’s security. It would strengthen the extremists on both sides who depend upon perpetual conflict.
Hamas has said yes to disarmament. Netanyahu should be required to say yes to withdrawal. Both commitments must be implemented together, step by step and under international supervision.
It is time for reason. It is time to stop moving the goalposts. And above all, it is time to end this war.
