Iran reaffirms support for Hamas as Trump pushes to disarm terror group

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Hamas’ recently elected person to congratulate him and pledge Tehran’s continued enactment for the group’s cause, Hamas said Monday — arsenic President Donald Trump promotes a landmark statement intended to portion the violent enactment of its weapons and powerfulness successful Gaza.

Pezeshkian congratulated Khalil al-Hayya connected his predetermination arsenic caput of the group’s governmental bureau and told him Iran would proceed supporting the Palestinian cause, according to a Hamas connection posted successful Arabic, and reviewed by Fox News Digital.

"We are with you, and we enactment you successful each enactment you take, contempt the attacks we are facing," Pezeshkian said, according to Hamas’ relationship of the call.

Fox News Digital has asked Iran’s ngo to the United Nations to corroborate that the telephone took spot and supply an authoritative readout.

HAMAS TAPS 'ULTIMATE INSTITUTIONAL SURVIVOR' AS TERROR CHIEF, SENDING MESSAGE TO ISRAEL: EXPERT

Analysts accidental Al-Hayya's elevation signals that Hamas, aft the demolition of Gaza and the losses since Oct. 7, 2023, has prioritized organizational cohesion, equipped continuity, and the preservation of its Iranian relationship. (Iranian Leader Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The reported speech highlighted a cardinal contradiction confronting Trump’s Gaza initiative: While the White House is presenting the roadmap arsenic a landmark statement to region Hamas from powerfulness and unafraid its weapons, Iran — the group’s longtime subject and fiscal patron — was simultaneously reaffirming its enactment for Hamas and its caller leader. Tehran’s backing raises caller questions astir whether Hamas is prepared to surrender the arsenal astatine the halfway of its powerfulness and however the Board of Peace could enforce disarmament against a radical that continues to person governmental enactment from 1 of Washington’s main determination adversaries.

Trump successful caller days announced what helium called a "HISTORIC statement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and each different equipped groups," presenting it arsenic a breakthrough aft astir 3 years of war. The stakes widen acold beyond the wording of the deal: Hamas’ weapons stay the cardinal obstacle to rebuilding Gaza, and the statement volition trial whether Trump’s Board of Peace tin enforce a postwar modulation oregon whether Hamas volition exploit the process to survive, regroup and clasp power.

At the halfway of the effort is Trump’s Board of Peace, the president’s handpicked conveyance for implementing his Gaza argumentation and perchance extending his attack to different planetary conflicts. Trump chairs the board, whose enforcement enactment includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and erstwhile British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The White House says the committee volition oversee Gaza’s transition, mobilize reconstruction backing and clasp the parties accountable.

But the tensions intensified Monday besides connected the Israeli side, erstwhile Board of Peace Director-General and High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov and committee advisor Aryeh Lightstone met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged Israel to halt its attacks successful Gaza.

Israel appeared to cull the board’s 2 cardinal demands soon afterward.

"Israel volition not retreat from its existent enactment successful the Gaza Strip and volition proceed to thwart immoderate menace to our civilians and soldiers," an Israeli governmental authoritative said. The connection amounted to a rejection, astatine slightest for now, of demands that Israel instrumentality to the "yellow line" and halt targeted strikes successful Gaza.

A Board of Peace authoritative declined to sermon the gathering but said the assemblage remained focused connected carrying retired the roadmap.

"We are focused connected implementation," the authoritative told Fox News Digital. "We person provided a pragmatic way guardant to alteration Gaza by removing Hamas from powerfulness and seeing it manus implicit its weapons. These steps would undoubtedly let for the betterment of beingness successful Gaza and enhancement of information successful Israel. We stay determined to beforehand these objectives."

Meanwhile, the Hamas violent radical says it has agreed lone to a phased and conditional process involving the retention of weapons aft Israel stops its attacks, withdraws its forces and allows much assistance into Gaza. Hamas has avoided the connection "disarmament" successful its statements and insists its weapons would stay nether Palestinian power alternatively than being surrendered to Israel oregon an planetary force.

HAMAS AGREES TO COMPLETE DISARMAMENT UNDER 'HISTORIC' GAZA AGREEMENT: TRUMP

A drone presumption shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, pursuing Israeli forces' withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire betwixt Israel and Hamas successful Gaza, successful Gaza City, Oct. 11, 2025. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo/Reuters)

The board’s 15-point roadmap calls for Hamas to transportation Gaza’s civilian authorities and information responsibilities to a Palestinian technocratic assemblage known arsenic the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. Hamas-run constabulary would surrender their weapons to the committee, portion dense weapons, subject accumulation sites, weapons depots and tunnels would beryllium addressed aboriginal done a phased decommissioning process linked to an Israeli withdrawal.

The intended endpoint is that lone the caller Palestinian authorization would person oregon power weapons successful Gaza. But the roadmap leaves unresolved who volition enforce the process, what constitutes compliance and which broadside indispensable enactment first.

Hamas’ disarmament remains a cardinal obstacle to rebuilding Gaza. Trump has tied reconstruction to the radical laying down its weapons, portion The Associated Press reported that the Board of Peace had secured astir $7 cardinal successful pledges by February — a fraction of the estimated $70 cardinal needed to rebuild the devastated territory.

Moumen al-Natour, a Palestinian lawyer from Gaza and co-founder of the anti-Hamas "We Want to Live" movement, said civilians desperately privation the statement to win but bash not spot Hamas to relinquish power.

"Civilian radical wrong Gaza Strip … privation safety, privation to halt this war, privation a caller government, privation to beryllium alive," al-Natour told Fox News Digital.

But al-Natour, who antecedently was imprisoned by Hamas, warned that the radical would usage delays and violations to stay embedded successful Gaza.

"I can’t spot Hamas due to the fact that I cognize Hamas," helium said, arguing that the radical had repeatedly arrested and killed Palestinians who opposed its rule. He said an planetary unit of lone a fewer 100 unit would beryllium incapable to unafraid Gaza oregon forestall Hamas from intimidating residents and that a overmuch larger unit and a caller Palestinian constabulary operation would beryllium required.

Drawing connected a grassroots web of thousands of Gazan professionals who cull Hamas’ ideology, the "We Want to Live" question is promoting its ain program to rebuild Gaza’s civilian nine and is calling for practice with the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the technocratic assemblage tasked nether the U.S.-backed modulation program with governing and rebuilding the enclave.

Al-Natour besides projected allowing civilians who privation to flight Hamas-controlled areas to determination into protected zones adjacent the "yellow line" — the bound separating Israeli-held territory from the remainder of Gaza — wherever they could unrecorded nether a caller Palestinian medication backed by an planetary information force. He said the statement could supply Gazans with a safer alternate portion a post-Hamas governing operation is established.

HAMAS SAYS IT WILL DISSOLVE GAZA GOVERNMENT, BUT ISRAEL WARNS GROUP STILL SEEKS HEZBOLLAH-STYLE CONTROL

A mourner carries the assemblage of a Palestinian who was killed successful Israeli strikes, according to medics, during a funeral, successful Gaza City, August 2, 2026. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)

Michael Milstein, a erstwhile subject quality serviceman successful Israel and present caput of the Palestinian Studies Centre astatine Tel Aviv University, said the compromise has been processing for months nether unit from Qatar, Turkey and Egypt.

Milstein said Hamas whitethorn beryllium prepared to springiness up power of Gaza’s day-to-day authorities and judge restrictions connected dense weapons but is improbable to wantonness its equipped enactment completely.

Under the exemplary Hamas appears to favor, Milstein said, a technocratic authorities and planetary forces would presume work for nationalist services and reconstruction portion Hamas preserves its personnel, infrastructure and governmental power — an statement resembling Hezbollah’s longtime presumption successful Lebanon.

"There is simply a very, precise debased accidental that Hamas volition wholly disarm," Milstein told Fox News Digital, describing the roadmap arsenic the benignant of "gray area" Hamas has historically utilized to its advantage.

The Board of Peace besides is pressing for an extremity to actions that could derail the plan. After Israeli strikes killed civilians and reportedly destroyed aesculapian supplies implicit the weekend, the Director-General of the Board of Peace and High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, called for de-escalation but did not place Israel by name.

"Two days of strikes crossed Gaza person killed civilians and destroyed aesculapian supplies," Mladenov wrote connected X, adding that helium was moving with the parties and determination mediators to "create the abstraction for the afloat implementation of the President’s plan."

Palestinians inspect the tract of an overnight Israeli onslaught connected a medicine warehouse, according to medics, adjacent to tents sheltering displaced Palestinians, successful Deir al-Balah, successful the cardinal Gaza Strip, August 1, 2026, residents had been pre-warned by the Israeli subject to evacuate. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

Israel, meanwhile, says it volition not retreat earlier Hamas genuinely disarms. Hamas says Israel indispensable retreat first.

The roadmap besides faces absorption wrong Israel’s government. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements Minister Orit Strock urged Netanyahu connected Monday to convene the information Cabinet instantly and artifact the planetary stabilization unit from entering Gaza, according to Israel’s N12 quality outlet.

In an urgent missive reported by N12 connected Aug. 3, 2026, the ministers called the Board of Peace roadmap "dangerous to Israel" and argued that it contradicts Israel’s stated goals of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza. They objected that weapons would beryllium placed nether the authorization of a caller Palestinian assemblage alternatively than removed from Gaza oregon handed to Israel and that Israeli troops would statesman withdrawing portion the disarmament process was inactive underway.

The far-right ministers besides argued that the planetary unit would show the separation betwixt Israeli troops and the caller Palestinian medication alternatively than straight disarm Hamas. They demanded that Netanyahu forestall implementation until the roadmap is revised to necessitate afloat demilitarization earlier an Israeli withdrawal. The missive underscores that the plan’s obstacles widen beyond Hamas: Influential members of Netanyahu’s conjugation are besides challenging its sequencing, enforcement and information provisions.

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Israeli troops are pictured extracurricular the Gaza Strip up of a subject cognition successful bluish Gaza (Daphne Lemelin/AFP via Getty Images)

That leaves Trump’s proclaimed milestone resting connected the aforesaid question that has stalled erstwhile Gaza negotiations: whether Hamas is genuinely preparing to surrender the weapons that underpin its powerfulness — oregon simply buying clip to guarantee that it remains lasting erstwhile the rebuilding begins.