Qatar and Türkiye propose a two-year disarmament plan for Hamas in Gaza

Qatar and Türkiye have announced a new initiative that would grant Hamas a two-year period to carry out a disarmament process.

Sources speaking to the Israeli news outlet Ynet suggested that Qatar and Türkiye are working to “create a specific situation where the organization will remain armed in Gaza.”

The sources said, “In discussions with the Americans, the two countries are raising various options for Hamas to either hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority or transfer them to a warehouse under some form of supervision.”

The report continues:

“There is also disagreement over the timeline for Hamas’s disarmament: Qatar and Türkiye propose a two-year period during which Hamas could continue to hold its weapons, while Israel strongly opposes this, insisting on a few months. Israel’s message to the Americans is that if Hamas is not disarmed, Israel will intervene and disarm it.”

According to Ynet, Washington has signaled it may be open to this plan. The report states that US officials have recently floated the idea of “decommissioning” weapons instead of full disarmament.

The report notes that this would follow the model of the Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) supervised decommissioning process from two decades ago. As part of the Northern Ireland peace process, the IRA’s weapons were eventually made permanently unusable.

The new Turkish-Qatari plan mirrors a proposal for Gaza presented by Egypt earlier this year. That proposal envisioned the weapons of the Palestinian resistance being stored in specific locations under the supervision of Cairo and the EU. Egypt also proposed a plan to address Hezbollah’s weapons.

The report also highlights Washington’s difficulty in forming a “Gaza Stabilization Force” (GSF), noting that “unless an agreement is reached on how and when Hamas will be disarmed, Arab and Muslim countries will not be willing to send troops.”

Channel 14 also reiterated Ynet’s report, stating, “Senior officials in the Trump administration are pushing for Hamas to be given up to two years for disarmament.”

One of the key elements of US President Donald Trump’s “peace plan” for Gaza is the deployment of an International Security Force composed of regional countries. Türkiye, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, and Pakistan have indicated their readiness to send troops, but Israel has expressed its discomfort with the participation of Türkiye and Qatar.

The Trump plan holds the GSF responsible for disarming and dismantling Hamas and other resistance groups. In recent weeks, numerous reports have emerged indicating that Arab and regional countries are significantly uncomfortable with the idea of being forced into armed conflict in Gaza.

A senior Pakistani official recently announced that his country is prepared to send troops for peacekeeping but will not participate in the disarmament process.

According to the ceasefire plan, the Israeli army is required to withdraw further while the disarmament process is ongoing. Trump’s plan allows Israel to maintain a presence in the border area of Gaza until the complete surrender and elimination of the resistance is ensured.

The US president’s plan also includes the return of the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza, contingent on specific reforms.

In an interview last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his rejection of the Palestinian Authority’s return to Gaza.