Israeli strikes in Gaza continue, despite announcement of Hamas disarmament

At least eight people were killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza overnight, according to Palestinian reports, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a “HISTORIC agreement” on the “COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza” on Friday. 

At least three other people were reported killed in two strikes early Saturday afternoon, which Palestinian media attributed to the IDF. 

A spokesman for the Gaza City al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital accused the IDF of striking a medical equipment warehouse owned by the hospital. 

Also on Saturday, the IDF said it struck and destroyed five Hamas weapons storage facilities across the Gaza Strip, in an operation conducted with Shin Bet intelligence.

The military said that one of the weapons storage facilities was located next to al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, indicating that the warehouse was being used to store terror weapons alongside medical equipment. 

The IDF has repeatedly accused Hamas of storing weapons in medical facilities, or using medical facilities for terror purposes, both during the Gaza War and in previous conflicts, often providing photos and videos to support its claims. 

Early Sunday morning, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed that eight people were killed in Israeli strikes overnight. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its casualty figures. 

The IDF announced the killing of a Hamas terrorist who participated in the massacres in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. 

According to the announcement, Salem Jamal Abd al-Rahman Abu Labad, head of a cell in Hamas’ elite Nukhba Force, was killed in an airstrike on Saturday. 

At the same time, the IDF said it killed Muhammad Abd al-Nasser Muhammad Khatib, identified by the IDF as a Hamas commander in the terror group’s Maghazi Battalion, in a separate air strike on Friday. 

The strikes came after a Board of Peace member told the Times of Israel on Thursday evening that the announcement of the agreement started a 14-day period in which Israel and Hamas would finalize the timeline for Hamas’ disarmament, which would take place over a period of 200 to 350 days. 

Despite Trump’s announcement of the agreement, the Israeli government has yet to officially acknowledge such an agreement, or provide any details about its implementation. 

On Friday, President Trump claimed that Israel was “very happy” with the agreement. 

“We do have an understanding with Israel. Israel is very happy about it. Israel helped us, and they've been very good,” Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at Camp David. “Will it go through its ups and downs? It's a very complex situation over there.” 

Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov said the IDF’s "withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning," indicating a phased approach. 

However, a Palestinian source told public broadcaster Kan News that Hamas has begun distributing rifles to operatives in the Gaza Strip in recent days, deemed to be 'personal weapons', to prevent their handover as part of the disarmament. 

“Hamas will not disarm. Period,” the Palestinian source told Kan News. 

An Israeli official also told the news outlet that the IDF will not withdraw from the Gaza Strip without the full disarmament of the terror groups. 

A Palestinian source told The Jerusalem Post that the disarmament plan “will not be implemented,” telling the outlet that the terror organization’s weapons are integral to its identity. 

“If there are no weapons, there is no Hamas," the source told the Post. 

The source cited potential revenge by anti-Hamas elements in Gaza as another reason for Hamas’ unwillingness to give up its weapons. 

“Families, clans, and even ordinary people who were targeted by Hamas are waiting to settle scores with the organization, no matter how long it takes,” the source was quoted as saying. 

“People who were tortured, abused, or whose relatives were killed by Hamas will never forgive and never forget. Today, they cannot fight Hamas because the organization is armed. But even if it takes five or 10 years, people will seek to hold Hamas members accountable,” he continued. “Hamas is aware of this threat, and that's why they need their weapons to protect themselves and cannot afford to disarm.” 

Meanwhile, Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas' Political Bureau, told Arab media outlets that the agreement only requires Hamas to hand over weapons to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) for “storage,” a claim directly contradicted by the language of the Board of Peace’s announcement. 

The IDF does not trust Hamas to disarm, a source from the Southern Command told Walla News. 

“Hamas works according to a regular schedule,” the source said. “It establishes its rule in the Gaza Strip, detached from statements in the media. It prepares itself for all scenarios: it collects intelligence, terrorizes the public, collects taxes, injects funds into the Strip, has returned to spreading extremist ideology among the tents, recruits very young activists, and is preparing for a campaign against Israel in a few years.” 

“There is not a day that its people do not challenge the IDF forces at the Yellow Line,” the source said. 

Late Saturday night, senior Palestinian figure Mohammad Dahlan claimed that Trump advisor Jared Kushner assured him that the United States had secured an Israeli agreement to halt strikes, as part of the announced disarmament. 

“After Hamas and the Palestinian factions agreed on the 15-point document, Mr. Jared Kushner confirmed to us that he agreed [sic] with the Israeli side that it will stop the attacks on Gaza starting tomorrow morning,” Dahlan wrote on his Facebook account. 

However, after the Israeli strikes were reported, Dahlan walked back those claims, writing that “Mr. Jared Kushner has informed us that he is working with the Israeli side to halt the attacks on Gaza,” and deleting his previous post. 

As of Sunday morning, neither the IDF nor the Prime Minister’s Office had confirmed Dahlan’s statements, nor the agreement announced by President Trump.