US says disarmament program will offer funds in exchange for Hamas ceding its guns

The US ambassador to the UN says that Hamas will be urged to cede its weapons via an international buy-back program, providing new details regarding the program Washington plans to advance to strip the terror group of its weapons.

“Independent international monitors will supervise a process of demilitarization of Gaza to include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning, and supported by an internationally-funded buy-back and reintegration program,” US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz says in remarks to the Security Council.

The remarks confirmed The Times of Israel’s reporting from recent months about plans to institute a “buy-back” program where participants would be given funds or jobs if they agree to hand over their weapons. It is part of a broader decommissioning initiative that the Gaza ceasefire mediators are pushing that would see Hamas gradually hand over its arms, starting with its heavy weaponry.

Israel is unlikely to accept this gradual process that prioritizes heavy weaponry over light weaponry, given that the latter category has also been used by Hamas to maintain its grip on Gaza.

A US official briefing reporters last week also said that the disarmament program would offer amnesty to Hamas fighters who cooperate with it.

Hamas’s disarmament is meant to happen under the second stage of the ceasefire in Gaza, which US President Donald Trump kicked off last week.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon says during the Security Council session that Hamas still holds thousands of rockets, anti-tank missiles and some 60,000 assault rifles.

Waltz does not elaborate on the makeup of the international monitoring system, but does claim that countries have agreed to contribute troops to the International Stabilization Force meant to oversee security in postwar Gaza, which will “establish control and stability, so that the IDF can withdraw from Gaza based on standards, milestones and timeframes linked to demilitarization.”

He avoids naming the countries that will contribute troops to the ISF. The last time he did this in November, one of the two countries he identified — Azerbaijan — would go on to announce that it had decided not to do so. The second country, Indonesia, has yet to confirm its agreement to contribute troops.

Waltz says the Board of Peace will oversee postwar Gaza, and the Palestinian technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza will “will apply pressure to Hamas to honor its commitment and to disarm. Hamas must not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly or indirectly, in any form.”