Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip crossed into Israel on the night of October 7, 2023, initiating an attack on civilians and Israeli forces of exceptional brutality. The attack, and the equally severe response by the Israel Defense Forces, initiated an unprecedented conflict in Gaza that continued for two years and led to more than 70,000 casualties in the Gaza Strip alone. On October 10, 2025, a ceasefire leading to hostage and prisoner exchanges went into effect, marking the first phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the conflict and paving the way for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The formal transition to the second phase of the plan was announced on January 14, 2026, yet the implementation of this phase is contingent largely on Hamas’s disarmament, as stipulated in point 13 of the plan. Nonetheless, how disarmament is defined and how to achieve it remain elusive.
The authors examine these questions through a comprehensive disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) lens. Drawing on extensive workshops, interviews with subject-matter experts, and review of a subset of historical precedents, they propose a DDR framework for Gaza. They acknowledge the political and operational challenges that bode ill for the success of such an endeavor in general and in Gaza in particular, and they describe the preconditions necessary for a successful DDR program in Gaza, including the link to deradicalization.
This publication is part of the RAND expert insights series. The expert insights series presents perspectives on timely policy issues.
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