Talks delayed as Hamas disarmament dispute stalls Trump’s Gaza peace plan.”
Diplomatic talks expected this week between Hamas and Nickolay Mladenov, the envoy overseeing implementation of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace framework, have been officially postponed amid a growing deadlock over terrorist disarmament.
According to The National, the high-stakes discussions were scheduled to take place in Alamein, Egypt, but have now been pushed to next week. The delay is intended to give regional mediators from Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar more time to press Hamas and other Gaza-based armed factions to soften their position on surrendering weapons.
At the center of the dispute is a fundamental disagreement over what “disarmament” means. Mladenov has reportedly insisted that the second phase of the Trump plan cannot advance unless Hamas and other armed groups fully surrender their weapons, including individual firearms. Hamas, however, has signaled willingness to give up heavy arms such as rockets and machine guns, while demanding to retain personal weapons.
Islamic Jihad has taken an even harder line, rejecting disarmament entirely and accusing Mladenov of bias toward Israel.
The postponement highlights the fragility of the Trump-backed Gaza framework, whose next phase depends on resolving security, governance, humanitarian aid, and reconstruction issues. Mladenov previously described Hamas disarmament as a non-negotiable condition for advancing the ceasefire and broader peace process.
Hamas is also arguing that the first phase of the agreement has not been fully implemented, especially regarding unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza. The group claims the transition to phase two was never legally conditioned on total weapons surrender.
For Israel and the US-backed peace board, however, allowing Hamas or Islamic Jihad to retain armed capacity would risk turning the agreement into a temporary pause rather than a durable security arrangement. The postponed Alamein summit now becomes a critical test of whether regional mediators can pressure Gaza’s armed factions into meaningful concessions—or whether the disarmament dispute will stall the entire plan.
