Analysis – Hamas’s firm grip on Gaza complicates the plan for a lasting peace via Reuters
Written by Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO – In areas affected by the 15-month war with Israel, Hamas officials are overseeing the removal of debris following a ceasefire on Sunday. The group’s gunmen patrolled the aid convoys on Gaza’s dirt roads, while local blue-uniformed police also patrolled the city’s streets, sending a clear message: Hamas is still in control.
Israeli officials described a demonstration by jubilant Hamas activists who celebrated Sunday’s ceasefire in front of cheering crowds as a carefully orchestrated attempt to exaggerate the Palestinian terror group’s power.
But, in the days since the operation began, Hamas authorities in Gaza have moved quickly to re-establish security, curb looting, and begin restoring basic services to parts of the enclave, swathes of which have been devastated by the Israelis. annoying.
Reuters spoke to more than a dozen citizens, officials, regional politicians and security experts who say that, despite Israel’s vow to destroy it, Hamas remains deeply entrenched in Gaza and its grip on power poses a challenge to implementing a permanent ceasefire.
The Islamist group not only controls the security forces in Gaza, but its commanders run ministries and government agencies, pay staff salaries and coordinate with international NGOs, they said.
On Tuesday, local police and gunmen – who have been intercepted by Israeli jets for months – were stationed in areas near the Strip.
“We want to prevent any kind of security vacuum,” said Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run government information office in Gaza. He said about 700 police officers were protecting the aid ships and not a single truck had been stolen since Sunday – a contrast to the massive theft of food by gangs during the war.
A spokesman for the United Nations in Geneva confirmed on Tuesday that there had been no reports of looting or attacks on aid workers since the operation began.
In recent weeks, Israeli airstrikes have targeted low-ranking officials in Gaza, in an apparent attempt to dislodge Hamas from government. Israel had already released the Hamas leadership, including political chief Ismail Haniyeh and the masterminds of the October 7 attacks, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif.
Despite the loss, Al-Thawabta said the Hamas leadership continued to work. “Right now we have 18,000 workers who work every day to provide the residents with their needs,” he said.
Municipalities under Hamas began on Sunday to remove debris from some roads to vehicles that will pass by, while workers are repairing pipes and infrastructure to restore water to the neighbors. On Tuesday, dozens of large trucks were carrying debris from the destroyed buildings along the main gravel roads in the enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not reveal the vision of the future of Gaza after the war except to emphasize that the Islamist group will not play a role and said that the Palestinian Authority – the body established under the Oslo peace agreement thirty years ago that controls part of the West Bank – and cannot be trusted under the leadership its present. The Israeli government did not respond to questions from Reuters.
Joost Hiltermann, of the International Crisis Group, said that Hamas’s tight grip on Gaza poses a problem for Israel.
“Israel has a choice, to continue fighting in the future and kill people – and that did not work in the last 15 months – or it can allow an arrangement where the Palestinian Authority takes over in favor of Hamas,” said Hiltermann.
Hamas’s military strength is difficult to assess because its weapons are still hidden and most of its well-trained soldiers may have been killed, Hiltermann said, but it is still a powerful armed group in Gaza: “No one is talking about the PA taking over. Gaza without Hamas’s consent.”
Although senior Hamas officials have expressed support for a coalition government, Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority and a long-time foe of Hamas, disagreed. Abbas’ office and the Palestinian Authority did not respond to a request for comment.
NEW CONVERSATIONS
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel must withdraw its troops from central Gaza and allow Palestinians to return to the north during an initial six-week period, during which some hostages will be released. From the 16th day of the ceasefire, the two sides must negotiate the second phase, which is expected to include a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The reconstruction, which is expected to cost billions of dollars and take years, will only begin in the third and final phase.
The deal has divided opinion in Israel. While there was a celebration of the return of the first three hostages on Sunday, many Israelis wanted to see Hamas destroyed in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were captured.
Even before the ceasefire began, members of Netanyahu’s cabinet said they would like to return to the war to remove Hamas from power, once the hostages return home. Three loyal ministers resigned.
“There is no future for peace, stability and security for both sides if Hamas continues to rule the Gaza Strip,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Sunday.
A spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Abu Ubaida, told Reuters that the militant group would respect the terms of the ceasefire and urged Israel to do the same.
Fifteen months of war have left Gaza a wasteland of rubble, bombed-out buildings and makeshift camps, with hundreds of thousands of desperate people sheltering from the winter cold and surviving on whatever aid can reach them. More than 46,000 people have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The ceasefire agreement requires 600 aid trucks a day to reach Gaza. Al-Thawabta, a spokesman for the Hamas-run administration, said they have been communicating with UN agencies and international aid organizations about security on aid routes and warehouses, but the organizations are in charge of aid distribution.
A UN damage assessment released this month showed that just removing the more than 50 million tons of rubble left behind by Israeli bombings could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion.
On Sunday, as Hamas security forces filled the streets, some residents expressed pride at having survived the attack.
“Not even one country can withstand the Israeli war machine for 15 months,” said Salah Abu Rezik, a 58-year-old factory worker. He praised Hamas for helping distribute aid to starving Gazans during the conflict and trying to enforce some security.
“Hamas is an idea and you can’t kill an idea,” said Abu Rezik, predicting that the group will rebuild.
Others expressed anger that the attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 brought destruction to Gaza.
“We had houses and hotels and restaurants. We were living life. Today we have nothing, so what kind of victory is this?” said Ameen, 30, a civil engineer from Gaza City, who left his home in Khan Younis. “If the war stops, Hamas must not rule Gaza alone.”
THERE ARE NO COMPETITORS
While the Palestinian Authority claims to be the only authority to rule post-war Gaza, it has no presence in the enclave and little popular support, polls show.
Since 2007, when Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority ruled by rival Fatah after a brief civil war, it has eliminated opposition in Gaza. Backed by funds from Iran, it has built up a formidable security apparatus and military organization based around a network of tunnels – many of which Israel says it destroyed during the war.
Israel has floated recent ideas for a post-war Gaza, including bringing together local tribal leaders – many of whom were quickly killed by Hamas – or using members of the Gazan community without military ties to run the structure. But no one has ever achieved anything.
Key donors, including the United Arab Emirates and the new administration of US President Donald Trump, have stressed that Hamas – designated a terrorist organization by many Western countries – cannot continue to rule Gaza after the war.
Politicians have been discussing models involving international peacekeepers, including one that would see the United Arab Emirates and the United States, along with other nations, temporarily oversee the governance, security and reconstruction of Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority can take over.
Another model, supported by Egypt, would see a joint committee made up of Fatah and Hamas run Gaza under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority.
Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer now at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle East and African Studies in Tel Aviv, described Hamas’s public willingness to discuss the coalition government as “good”.
As long as they are in the background, handling the issues, they don’t care that there will be a committee to be a part of it,” he said.
On Monday, just after taking office, Trump expressed doubts about the Gaza ceasefire agreement, when asked if he was sure that all three sections of the agreement would be implemented. He did not elaborate.
A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
