Trump's Gaza Plan Faces Reality Check

PHOTO CAPTION: The sun sets over Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, August 2, 2026. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

CAIRO/GAZA, Aug. 3 — Palestinians in Gaza said Monday that President Donald Trump’s promotion of an agreement to disarm Hamas and end the war was disconnected from worsening conditions on the ground after Israeli strikes killed 18 people Sunday.

It was one of Gaza’s deadliest days since a ceasefire was reached last year.

Trump declared Thursday that the agreement represented “a major milestone” toward implementing the Gaza peace plan agreed in October.

He said Hamas would disarm and Israeli forces would withdraw in phases.

But disagreements over the sequence of those steps quickly emerged.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that Israeli troops would not withdraw before Hamas disarmed and its tunnels were destroyed.

Hamas has said Israel must stop its attacks before the group begins implementing the part of the agreement concerning its weapons.

Palestinians in Gaza said an increase in Israeli strikes in recent days had undermined hopes that the agreement would produce immediate change.

Gaza remains devastated by the Israeli offensive launched in response to the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israeli forces have occupied and depopulated roughly two-thirds of the enclave, leaving nearly all of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents confined to a narrow coastal area. Many are living in tents or damaged buildings.

“It was as if the war has resumed,” said Aya Mohammad Zaki, 32. “There was an attack every one hour or less, and the planes struck places across the Gaza Strip, north, central and south, everywhere.”

Among those killed Sunday were a couple and their child in an Israeli strike on a Gaza City apartment.

The Israeli military said it targeted military operatives in that strike and others.

Residents fear further displacement

Last year’s ceasefire initially allowed Israeli forces to retain control of 53% of Gaza before eventually withdrawing.

Instead, Israel has expanded the territory under its control.

Katz said Sunday that Israeli forces now held between 60% and 70% of Gaza as troops searched for tunnels.

Soumah Dawla, 60, said the Israeli-controlled area had recently moved closer to her home.

She said she awoke to find that yellow concrete markers used by Israeli forces to designate the boundary had been moved nearer.

“We are waiting for displacement at any moment,” Dawla said. “Our entire life is gone, our entire future is gone, our children’s future is gone.”

Her family, like nearly all Gaza residents, has been displaced multiple times since the war began.

Dawla lives with her husband in an improvised tent surrounded by the rubble of what was once a Gaza City neighborhood.

She said she had hoped Trump’s announcement would improve conditions.

“On the contrary, destruction increased, displacement increased,” Dawla said. “We don’t want talk, we want action.”

At least seven residents told Reuters that Israel’s recent expansion of the yellow line had forced people to flee from at least five areas across Gaza, including Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said July 20 that 30 families had been forced to leave an area near the yellow line in eastern Gaza City following an Israeli displacement order.

Israel and Hamas disagree over sequence

Hamas has demanded that Israel withdraw from areas seized since the October ceasefire before moving ahead with the agreement.

The group rejects the term “disarmament” but says it would place its weapons in storage under the control of a U.S.-backed Palestinian administration after Israel stops military operations and withdraws in accordance with the ceasefire.

A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had raised concerns about the disarmament proposal with Washington.

“The most important concern for Israel is that nothing can happen before Hamas completely and truly disarms,” spokesperson Doron Spielman said.

At least 1,230 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israeli strikes since the Trump-backed peace plan was agreed in October, according to Gaza health authorities.

Hamas does not generally disclose the number of its fighters killed.

Four Israeli soldiers have been killed during the same period, according to Israeli figures.

(Source: Reuters)