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Hamas and the U.S. administration have reached an understanding under which the group would hand over its weapons and Gaza tunnel maps in exchange for being accepted as a political party that would not be targeted, a Palestinian source told Sky News Arabia.
Speaking to Sky News Arabia on Thursday, the source said Hamas would surrender the weapons and the maps “through a mechanism that has not yet been disclosed.”
The source added that the understandings include allowing any Hamas political or military leaders who wish to leave the Gaza Strip to do so, with a U.S. commitment that Israel would not target them in the future, whether in "Türkiye or another destination willing to receive them."
In the same context, the source said Washington wants to integrate some members of Hamas’ police force and its former employees into the new administration in Gaza, provided they undergo “Israeli-U.S. security screening.”
In return, the source said the U.S. administration told mediators that “Israel has major reservations about a number of these understandings.”
According to the source, Israel rejected some of the understandings, especially those related to Hamas remaining a political party in the Palestinian arena.
The source also said there are “no objections from the Palestinian Authority to this approach, as long as it helps consolidate an end to the Gaza war, solidifies the ceasefire, and speeds up the reconstruction process.”
The United States had announced days earlier that the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement had begun.
However, Hamas accuses Israel of obstructing the agreement and continuing to launch attacks inside the Gaza Strip, both within the area under Israeli army control, the “yellow line,” and outside it.
Hamas political bureau chief’s media adviser Taher al-Nunu said on Wednesday that the core of the crisis does not lie in the movement’s weapons, but in the continuation and persistence of the occupation, stressing that ending the occupation is the real gateway to achieving peace.
On Wednesday, Israeli attacks killed 11 people and wounded others in various parts of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army continues to control southern and eastern buffer zones in Gaza, as well as large parts of northern Gaza, occupying more than 50% of the territory.
Israel’s genocide since Oct. 8, 2023, which lasted two years, has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 171,000, and destroyed about 90% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.
Since the ceasefire took effect Oct. 10, 2025, Israeli attacks have killed 483 Palestinians and wounded 1,287 others, while Israel has severely restricted the entry of food, shelter supplies and medical aid into Gaza, where about 2.4 million Palestinians live in dire conditions.
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