GAZA CITY (Palestinian Territories) — Senior Hamas officials told AFP on Friday that the deal reached with Israel to end the war includes provisions addressing the group’s weapons and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

The thorny issue of Hamas’s disarmament has been one of the key sticking points in the advancement of the ceasefire deal that has been in place between Israel and the group in Gaza since October.

Despite the ceasefire, daily violence has continued in Gaza, with Israeli strikes targeting what the military describes as Hamas militants.

“An agreement has been reached regarding the issue of weapons… Furthermore, an agreement has been reached on a gradual withdrawal of (Israeli forces)” from the strip, a Hamas official said.

The official added that the Islamist movement now expects the mediators and US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to ensure that Israel complies with the terms of the deal.

Ghazi Hamad, a member of the group’s negotiating team, said the movement was making “concessions for the sake of our people in the Gaza Strip, to save them from killing and displacement”.

He said the issue of the group’s weapons is tied to Israel’s withdrawal, the deployment of the National Committee and reconstruction work in the territory.