The New York Times and other liberal capitalist news media are claiming that Hamas has agreed to “disarm” in exchange for Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza, part of a 15-point “peace” plan released July 31 by the so-called Board of Peace appointed by President Donald Trump. They blame Israel for the lack of progress, implying it is sabotaging moves to peace.
This turns reality on its head.
Hamas said it is willing to turn over its heavy weapons to the “National Committee for the Administration of Gaza,” set up as part of the Trump administration’s plan, while insisting its combatants will keep their “personal” weapons. These proposals are gaining bipartisan support, with politicians on both sides of the aisle painting the National Committee as a neutral, “technocratic” body.
But Hamas supporters dominate the 13-member committee. Hamas — even if it carried out what it promises, which it won’t — would simply be turning over its weapons to itself!
It’s no wonder Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “Israel rejects the 15-point document. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say the disarmament of Hamas, I mean heavy weapons, less heavy weapons, light weapons, all the weapons.”
But under relentless pressure from the imperialist rulers in the U.S., the Israel Defense Forces abruptly stopped its strikes aimed at preventing Hamas from rebuilding its forces in Gaza.
Hamas announced July 20 that Khalil al-Hayya is its new political chief, replacing Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in October 2024. Al-Hayya, a founding member of Hamas, is frequently described by the bourgeois press as a “pragmatist.” But, like his mentors in Tehran, he calls Israel a “cancer” that must be uprooted.
In January 2025, al-Hayya called the Oct. 7, 2023, pogrom Hamas carried out — slaughtering 1,200 people, overwhelmingly unarmed Jewish civilians — a “security and military miracle” that would “forever be a source of pride.”
The Oct. 7 “miracle” and “source of pride” was the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. As part of its goal of dehumanizing and terrorizing Jews, several dozen women were raped before they were murdered by Hamas thugs. More than 50 immigrant workers and 24 Arab citizens of Israel were among those slaughtered, often after brutal torture, for the “crime” of working with Jews.
Knowing that the pogrom would leave Israel no choice but to counterattack, Hamas put its command posts, weapons storage and rocket launchers underneath or in hospitals it controlled, apartment buildings, mosques, schools and U.N. offices. This was deliberate, to maximize the number of civilian Gazan deaths it could blame on Israel when its forces responded.
Al-Hayya became a focus for the anger of thousands in Gaza during a series of anti-Hamas protests while the war there was raging in 2025. Protesters chanted “Oh Khalil Al-Hayya! the people are the victims” and “Stop lying to the people.”
Nothing in Hamas’ goals or methods have changed. It continues to arrest, beat, torture or kill Palestinians in Gaza who stand up to its dictatorial rule. And it is still stealing humanitarian aid meant for civilians in Gaza, either to feed its combatants or to sell for funds to procure arms. While Washington is promoting its “peace” plan in hopes of achieving stability for U.S. plunder of the region, Hamas is taking advantage of the time to restore its tunnels and smuggle in weapons and material it needs to produce more.
Netanyahu said Israel demands “real disarmament, not sham disarmament.” Despite U.S. pressure, he said, “we know how to stand our ground on these issues.”