Nearly 10 months after agreeing to the first phase of a ceasefire, Israel and Hamas are being compelled – somewhat reluctantly – to move to “phase 2.”
On July 30, 2026, President Donald Trump announced that Hamas had accepted to disarm and transfer security and civilian affairs in the Gaza Strip to a technocratic Palestinian administration – a key requisite of phase 2 of the U.S.-brokered peace plan for Gaza, along with the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave. Trump’s Board of Peace published a road map the following day for how it is to be achieved.
