The expert on disarmament: “Biggest thing to happen since the ceasefire”

 

Vilma Strömberg

 

Published 09:38

The road to disarming Hamas is long and fraught with uncertainty.

At the same time, the agreement is described as a diplomatic breakthrough.

– It is the biggest thing to happen since the ceasefire, says Middle East expert Anders Persson.

During the night, US President Donald Trump stated that the so-called peace council for Gaza has reached an agreement on the disarmament of terrorist-labeled Hamas. Sources within terrorist-labeled Hamas also confirmed to several media outlets that an agreement has been reached.

But whether it actually leads to a breakthrough in practice is uncertain, says Middle East expert Anders Persson.

— Trump's diplomacy in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran has not been very successful overall. His ceasefires tend to break down and he also tends to exaggerate successes with very big words, says Anders Persson.

Israel has not commented on the deal

It is also unclear how the Israeli government views Trump's announcement. Israel has still not commented on the agreement on Friday morning.

— But yesterday Netanyahu said that they were against what was being negotiated. And last night American representatives said that Trump will be very, very disappointed if Netanyahu does not do what he is supposed to do, says Persson.

After reports of a breakthrough during the talks in Egypt between the so-called peace council and Hamas earlier on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office downplayed expectations. The proposal fell short of Israel's demand for a complete demilitarization of Gaza in exchange for possible withdrawals from Israel, the office said in a statement according to the Times of Israel.

According to American sources, Israel is also skeptical that Hamas would give up its weapons, Reuters reports.

Uncertain future for Gaza

By all accounts, there is still a long way to go before disarmament can be implemented, says Persson.

— No matter how you twist and turn it, Gaza faces a very uncertain future. But this is a possible breakthrough that could steer Gaza in a better direction, he says.

But in concrete terms, one should not expect too much from the agreement at this point, says Persson.

— When you start to sort this out, you see how fragile it is. Hamas is going to hand over its weapons. Will they hand over all of them? A new council is going to come in and govern Gaza. How much popular support do they have? Those types of questions are there all the way.