\u201cThe agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases,\u201d the US president said on social media. \u201cAs disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senior Hamas<\/a> officials have reportedly agreed to the plan, but the question of whether the group disarms before or after Israel\u2019s withdrawal from Gaza has already emerged as a point of contention. \u201cWe will not take any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel\u2019s withdrawal from the Strip,\u201d Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas negotiating team, told \u200bAl Jazeera.<\/p>\n Earlier an Israeli official told the Reuters news agency that the proposed terms were not satisfactory.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael demands the complete disarmament of Hamas<\/a>, including \u200bthe removal of weapons from Gaza and the complete demilitarisation of the Strip as a precondition for \u200cany process,\u201d the official said, adding that the plan under discussion did not \u201cprovide a satisfactory response to these demands and Israel conveyed its objections\u201d.<\/p>\n You can read more about that news here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The announcement comes nine months after a US-brokered ceasefire was signed. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas had largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.<\/p>\n In the US-Israeli war on Iran, which is showing signs of escalating across the region, Iran\u2019s army on Friday launched drone strikes at US military facilities at the Ahmad Al Jaber airbase in Kuwait. The strikes were in response to recent US attacks on Iran<\/a> including a strike on a home in Qeshm, Iran\u2019s state media reported.<\/p>\n And Saudi Arabia is preparing for a major military offensive against the Houthis<\/a> by sea and possibly by land in central Yemen, Yemeni sources believe, in a move to break the chokehold on its oil exports through the southern Red Sea.<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n Twenty-five commodities vessels passed through the \u2060Bab el-Mandeb strait on Thursday, while traffic through the strait \u2060of Hormuz \u2060remained \u200blow with only two tankers transiting, according to Kpler shipping \u2060data.<\/p>\n Analysts are expecting major oil companies to report large profits while fighting between Iran and the US impeded petroleum shipments. Six of Europe\u2019s largest oil companies have posted first-quarter profits of $22bn altogether, a total 43% higher than the same time last year, according to Global Witness.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia on Thursday said it had set up a maritime defence alliance of 14 regional countries to secure navigation around the Bab al-Mandab strait.<\/p>\n An Iranian strike hit a Chinese firm\u2019s building in Kuwait on Thursday, severely damaging the structure and killing a worker, Kuwait\u2019s military said, hours after Jordan\u2019s air defences shot down five missiles launched from Iran.<\/p>\n Egypt\u2019s government said on Thursday authorities were analysing drone fragments from an unprecedented strike on one of its ports, after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned of regional escalation. His government had earlier confirmed that a fire on two gas vessels in the Damietta port \u2013 one of which was US-owned \u2013 was a result of a drone strike, the first to target the country since the outbreak of the Middle East war.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.22 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Israel must approve agreement before it is implemented, says Hamas official<\/p>\n Israel must approve the \u2060phased disarmament \u2060agreement announced \u200bby US president Donald Trump \u2060before \u200bHamas \u200cwill \u200cimplement it, Ghazi \u200cHamad, a Hamas official involved in the negotiations, \u200ctold Reuters.<\/p>\n Once both sides \u200bapprove the agreement text, Israel \u2060must begin implementing the \u200bagreement\u2019s \u200bfirst phase, \u200bHamad \u200bsaid.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s Board of Peace, an organisation established to oversee the Gaza ceasefire, said Hamas<\/a> agreed to a \u201cdetailed road map\u201d for disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory, but a lot of the details remain unclear.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.05 EDT<\/p>\n Reuters has issued some news alerts after speaking to a Hamas<\/a> official about the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire, including disarmament.<\/p>\n The news agency reported the official saying Israel must withdraw its forces from Gaza, and that if it does not approve the accord then Hamas will not implement it. Israel<\/a> has yet to publicly say anything about the deal.<\/p>\n We will bring you more as we get it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Hamas disarmament news ‘extremely welcome,’ says Louise Haigh<\/p>\n We are getting some of the first international reactions of the supposed Gaza<\/a> deal announced by Donald Trump.<\/p>\n In the UK, Louise Haigh, who runs the new office of the prime minister, said any progress in peace negotiations is \u201cextremely welcome\u201d while the government awaits Israel\u2019s response.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s extremely welcome news if there has been any progress in the peace negotiations and any step forward to disarming Hamas<\/a>,\u201d she told BBC Breakfast.<\/p>\n Louise Haigh arriving at 10 Downing Street on 20 July 2026. Photograph: Neil Hall\/EPA<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, we will need to await the Israeli government\u2019s response and its commitment to the ceasefire and a way forward and a withdrawal from Gaza, and to cease its activities of settler violence and taking action against such settler violence in the West Bank.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if progress has been made, then it\u2019s extremely welcome news, because the suffering in Gaza and the wider region has been too extreme for far too long, and the human cost of the war has been absolutely obscene and intolerable.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cWe\u2019re awaiting the response from the Israeli government, so we\u2019ll set out the details in due course of our wider government response.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.36 EDT<\/p>\n ‘Massive’ blasts reported in southern Lebanon as IDF bombs ‘Hezbollah tunnels’ near Beaufort Castle<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in Lebanon, local media reported \u201cmassive explosions\u201d overnight in the southern parts of the country, where Israeli forces say they have blasted an underground tunnel network belonging to Hezbollah.<\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s official National News Agency (NNA) reported explosions in Yahmar al-Shaqif, Arnoun and Kfar Tebnit, all areas close to the Beaufort Ridge that is occupied by the Israeli military.<\/p>\n The explosions began at about midnight and \u201creverberated with tremendous and unprecedented force throughout the entire south\u201d, NNA reported.<\/p>\n A correspondent for the news agency said the blasts near Beaufort Castle, the 900-year-old castle and strategic ridge captured by Israeli troops in May, had \u201ccaused the windows of a number of houses in the town of al-Qlailah to shatter, due to the force of the blasts and the tremors felt by residents across the region\u201d.<\/p>\n An Israeli flag on Beaufort Castle, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon. Photograph: Reuters<\/p>\n The report added: \u201cThe explosions caused damage to some homes, while residents reported that the sound of the blasts was intense, accompanied by a powerful shock wave that shook the town, as well as the smell of gunpowder in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n In a post on X, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) said it \u201cdestroyed several key features in the underground tunnel network\u201d in the Beaufort Ridge area. It claimed that the tunnel network, located about 6km (just under 4 miles) from the Israeli town of Metula across the border, was built over 20 years and consisted of several levels, serving as a \u201ccentral terror headquarters for [Hezbollah\u2019s] \u201cBadir\u201d unit in southern Lebanon, which was funded and planned by the Iranian terror regime\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe existence of the infrastructure posed a threat to the residents of the north [of Israel] and to our forces,\u201d the IDF said.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past weeks, IDF forces have completed their hold on the Beaufort Ridge area, while controlling and clearing the underground infrastructures and preparing them for destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n More now on Iran\u2019s military saying it launched drone strikes targeting US military facilities in Kuwait on Friday, as fighting between Washington and Tehran resumed after a nearly week-long lull.<\/p>\n The army said it targeted \u201cfighter aircraft shelters, satellite communications systems and equipment storage facilities at Ahmad al-Jaber air base in Kuwait\u201d.<\/p>\n There was no immediate comment from the US military\u2019s Central Command.<\/p>\n The Iranian army said in a statement the strikes came in response to US military\u2019s recent aggression and \u201cbrutal attack\u201d on a residential home on Qeshm Island, Agence France-Presse reports.<\/p>\n Local media reported on Thursday that three members of a family were killed in US strikes on the island in the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n The US military earlier said it had carried out a \u201cheavy wave of strikes\u201d<\/a> against Iran.<\/p>\n Qeshm Island is a storage site for Iranian attack craft, drones, sea mines and other materials used to disrupt shipping through the Hormuz strait and has come under frequent American attack.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.19 EDT<\/p>\n Opening summary: Trump claims Gaza deal reached \u2013 but hurdles remain<\/p>\n Donald Trump claims a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel<\/a> to withdraw its forces from Gaza, but many hurdles and conditions remained in the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n \u201cThe agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases,\u201d the US president said on social media. \u201cAs disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n Senior Hamas<\/a> officials have reportedly agreed to the plan, but the question of whether the group disarms before or after Israel\u2019s withdrawal from Gaza has already emerged as a point of contention. \u201cWe will not take any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel\u2019s withdrawal from the Strip,\u201d Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas negotiating team, told \u200bAl Jazeera.<\/p>\n Earlier an Israeli official told the Reuters news agency that the proposed terms were not satisfactory.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael demands the complete disarmament of Hamas<\/a>, including \u200bthe removal of weapons from Gaza and the complete demilitarisation of the Strip as a precondition for \u200cany process,\u201d the official said, adding that the plan under discussion did not \u201cprovide a satisfactory response to these demands and Israel conveyed its objections\u201d.<\/p>\n You can read more about that news here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The announcement comes nine months after a US-brokered ceasefire was signed. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas had largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.<\/p>\n In the US-Israeli war on Iran, which is showing signs of escalating across the region, Iran\u2019s army on Friday launched drone strikes at US military facilities at the Ahmad Al Jaber airbase in Kuwait. The strikes were in response to recent US attacks on Iran<\/a> including a strike on a home in Qeshm, Iran\u2019s state media reported.<\/p>\n![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3937.jpg\")
Members of the Saudi special forces before a military parade in Mecca in a file shot. Photograph: Amr Nabil\/AP<\/p>\n