Current sectionIsrael NewsIsrael SecurityFinal Board of Peace text obligates group to 'decommission and store' heavy weapons while three sources tell the New York Times that Netanyahu halted Gaza strikes under mediator pressure - despite insisting on total disarmamentShare to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribePalestinians near a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza last month. Credit: Bashar Taleb/AFPPalestinians near a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza last month. Credit: Bashar Taleb/AFP01:52 AM • August 11 2026 IDTThe Board of Peace has dropped clauses from the Gaza agreement that explicitly stipulated that Hamas would not possess weapons, sources familiar with the negotiations have told The New York Times. The sources said the change came after months in which representatives of the Board of Peace made revisions to the text of the agreement during talks with Hamas leaders.The final agreement commits the organization to "decommission and store" heavy weapons as part of a process to be led by a group of Palestinian technocrats supported by the United States. However, the timetable for handing over weapons and the manner of Israel's withdrawal have not yet been determined.Additionally, three sources told the newspaper that said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the IDF to stop strikes in the Gaza Strip following pressure exerted on him by the Board of Peace. On August 2, Mohammed Dahlan, an influential exiled Palestinian, wrote on social media that Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, told him he was "working with the Israeli side to stop the attacks on Gaza."The following day, Netanyahu met with senior Board of Peace officials, including the board's high representative, Nickolay Mladenov. Since that evening, Israel has not attacked the Strip, according to Mahmoud Basal, a senior official in Gaza civil defense.At the same time, a senior Board of Peace official told Reuters that talks with Israel are continuing. He said Israel is not being asked to take irreversible steps before "verified actions on the ground" take place. The official added that the plan for the Strip is still operative.On Sunday, Netanyahu said that "Israel does not accept the 15-point document" of the Board of Peace. At the cabinet meeting the prime minister added that Israel will not withdraw from the Gaza Strip before Hamas is disarmed."When I say disarming Hamas, that means heavy weapons, less heavy weapons, all weapons. And we are talking about real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament," he said. "We are talking with the Americans about this issue. They have ideas, some of them are acceptable to us and some of them are unacceptable to us, and we know how to stand up against these things."An Israeli strike in Gaza last week. Credit: AFP/OMAR AL-QATTAAAn Israeli strike in Gaza last week. Credit: AFP/OMAR AL-QATTAANetanyahu added that "as long as I am prime minister, a Palestinian state will not be established, either in Gaza or in the West Bank."Hamas responded to Netanyahu's statement by saying it "adheres to what was agreed with the mediators and the Board of Peace regarding the roadmap." The organization's statement said it is committed to acting seriously and responsibly to implement the agreements included in the 15 clauses and to formulate a timetable for their implementation.Haaretz Podcast with Amos Harel: 'Trump Started a war with no plan. Now he doesn't know how to end it'Hamas stressed that at the current stage, priority must be given to ensuring the implementation of the agreement in all its stages and the commitments included in it, in a manner that will lead to a full cease-fire.In the NewsSources: Final Gaza Agreement Omits Explicit Ban on Hamas WeaponsHaaretz CartoonMuslim Progressives Are Reshaping American Politics – and Israel Made It HappenNetanyahu Rejects the Gaza Peace Plan and the Israeli Opposition Says AmenBiggest Israeli Ice Cream Chain Faces $100 Million Suit Over 'Sugar-free' LabelsRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIIsrael's Leading Philosopher on Manipulation, Morality and the Future of Zionism50 Years Ago, a Young Israeli Was Crowned the Most Beautiful Woman in the WorldIsrael Captured 230 Square Miles of Lebanon, Razed Villages and Built New BasesHow a Teen, Not a Journalist, Debunked Israel's Gaza 'Voluntary Emigration' Plan'I Saw Pictures of Dead Kids. In the Army They Told Us We Only Kill Terrorists'Who Is Rebeca Grynspan, the Jewish Frontrunner to Become the Next UN Chief?