US considers waiving demands for Hamas disarmament for Gaza ceasefire deal, sources say

The United States is reportedly considering dropping the demand for Hamas to disarm in order to reach a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, amid increasing frustration with Israel recently expressed by president Donald Trump’s administration.

According to the news outlet al-Arabi al-Jadeed, unnamed Arab sources, including an Egyptian source involved in mediation efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, revealed to it that the the US government is open to waiving the long-spouted demand for Palestinian resistance group Hamas to disarm as a precondition for reaching a ceasefire deal.

Representatives of the Trump administration involved in the negotiations expressed that willingness in talks with Egyptian officials, the sources said. The potential waiver of Hamas’s initial disarmament is reportedly in addition to the US government’s preference to strike a deal for the release of all Israeli hostages in one swoop – something Hamas has offered in talks.

The change in Washington’s approach, according to the sources, is due to an awareness amongst the US president’s inner circle that no military option will help save the Israeli hostages held in Gaza, as well as the growing view amongst his inner circle that Israel and its prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu are acting too authoritatively and manipulative towards the US government and Trump himself.

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