Senior Hamas officials said agreements had been reached with Israel on the group’s disarmament and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, while Iran said it launched drone strikes against a US military base in Kuwait in retaliation for American attacks on its territory.
The developments marked simultaneous movement on the Gaza conflict and a widening confrontation between Iran and the United States following days of escalating military exchanges across the region.
Hamas says agreement reached on disarmament, troop withdrawal
Senior Hamas officials told Agence France-Presse an agreement had been reached covering the movement’s weapons and a phased Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
One Hamas official said mediators and the newly proposed Board of Peace were now expected to ensure Israel implemented the terms of the agreement.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s negotiating team, later said Israel would play no role in disarming the group.
“Israel will not intervene in the issue of disarmament. The National Committee is the body that will undertake this task,” he said, referring to the National Committee for Administration of Gaza (NCAG).
Hamad said Hamas was making “concessions for the sake of our people in the Gaza Strip, to save them from killing and displacement”.
Israel had not immediately commented on the statements.
US President Donald Trump said the agreement envisaged the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, adding Israeli forces would withdraw once disarmament was completed.
Trump said an International Stabilisation Force would work alongside a new Palestinian police force under a new Palestinian government to administer the territory.
Egyptian state-linked broadcaster Al-Qahera News reported Cairo would soon host a meeting involving Egypt, the United States, Qatar and Turkey to discuss implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire roadmap agreed by Hamas and other Palestinian factions.
Iran says drones targeted US base in Kuwait
Iran’s military said it launched drone strikes targeting US military facilities at Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait.
The army said it struck fighter aircraft shelters, satellite communications systems and equipment storage facilities at the base.
There was no immediate comment from the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
Iran said the operation was carried out “in response to the recent aggression by the terrorist US military against our country and its brutal attack on a residential home on Qeshm Island”.
Iranian media reported on Thursday that three members of one family, including a two-year-old child, were killed in US strikes on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Regional confrontation intensifies
The latest developments followed a sharp escalation in hostilities between Washington and Tehran.
The US military said it struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets across Iran, including military command centres and drone facilities, during a two-hour operation after Tehran fired ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East.
Jordan’s military said its air defences intercepted five Iranian missiles over its territory without casualties, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted Jordan’s Al Azraq air base, where US aircraft are stationed.
The exchange underscored the risk of the conflict spreading across multiple fronts even as negotiators sought to advance a ceasefire and post-war governance plan for Gaza.
