Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has congratulated Hamas's newly elected political leader, Khalil al-Hayya, and pledged that Tehran will continue to support the group, a move that underscores the obstacles facing a US-brokered plan to disarm Hamas and end its rule in Gaza.
Hamas said Monday that Pezeshkian called al-Hayya after his election as head of the group's political bureau. In a statement published in Arabic, Hamas quoted the Iranian president as saying: «We are with you, and we support you in every action you take, despite the attacks we are facing.»
The reported call came as President Donald Trump promotes what he has described as a «historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups» in Gaza. The White House is presenting the initiative as a breakthrough after nearly three years of war, with the president's handpicked Board of Peace tasked with implementing the transition.
That board is chaired by Trump and includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. According to the White House, it will oversee Gaza's postwar transition, help mobilize reconstruction funding and hold the parties accountable.
The contradiction at the center of the effort is stark: while Washington says Hamas must hand over its weapons and step aside, Iran, the group's longtime military and financial patron, is publicly reaffirming its backing for al-Hayya and the Palestinian cause. Tehran's support raises fresh questions about whether Hamas is willing to surrender the arsenal that underpins its power and how the Board of Peace could enforce disarmament against a group that continues to receive political support from one of Washington's principal regional adversaries.
Tensions were also visible on the Israeli side. Board of Peace director-general Nickolay Mladenov and board advisor Aryeh Lightstone met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged Israel to halt its attacks in Gaza. Israel appeared to reject the board's central demands soon afterward.
«Israel will not withdraw from its current line in the Gaza Strip and will continue to thwart any threat to our civilians and soldiers,» an Israeli political official said. The statement amounted, at least for now, to a refusal to return to what has been described as the «yellow line» and to end targeted strikes in Gaza.
A Board of Peace official declined to discuss the meeting but insisted the body was focused on carrying out the roadmap. «We are focused on implementation,» the official said. «We have provided a pragmatic path forward to transform Gaza by removing Hamas from power and seeing it hand over its weapons. These steps would undoubtedly allow for the improvement of life in Gaza and enhancement of security in Israel. We remain determined to advance these objectives.»
Hamas, for its part, says it has agreed only to a phased and conditional process involving the storage of weapons after Israel stops its attacks, withdraws its forces and allows more aid into Gaza. The group has avoided the word «disarmament» in its statements and insists its weapons would remain under Palestinian control rather than being surrendered to Israel or an international force.
The board's 15-point roadmap calls for Hamas to transfer Gaza's civilian government and security responsibilities to a Palestinian technocratic body known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. Under the plan, Hamas-run police would surrender their weapons to the committee, while heavy weapons, military production sites, weapons depots and tunnels would be addressed later through a phased decommissioning process linked to an Israeli withdrawal.
The intended endpoint is that only the new Palestinian authority would possess or control weapons in Gaza. But the roadmap leaves unresolved who will enforce the process, what constitutes compliance and which side must act first.
Reconstruction adds further urgency. Trump has tied rebuilding Gaza to the group laying down its weapons, and the Associated Press has reported that the Board of Peace had secured roughly $7 billion in pledges by February. That is a fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the devastated territory.
Palestinian civilians are watching with skepticism. Moumen al-Natour, a Palestinian lawyer from Gaza and co-founder of the anti-Hamas «We Want to Live» movement, said ordinary people desperately want the agreement to succeed but do not trust Hamas to let go of power.
«Civilian people inside Gaza Strip want safety, want to stop this war, want a new government, want to be alive,» al-Natour said. Al-Natour, who was previously imprisoned by Hamas, warned that the group would use delays and violations to remain embedded in Gaza. «I can't trust Hamas because I know Hamas,» he said.
