Hamas announced on Monday that it would dissolve the government in the Gaza Strip, a move that experts say puts pressure on Israel as progress on a U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan stalls.
Ismail al-Twabta, head of the Hamas Government Media Office (GMO), said Hamas was ready to hand over governance to the Palestinian Engineers Committee, which is supposed to lead the enclave under the agreement. The Hamas statement did not mention disarmament, one of the key requirements under the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which Hamas has so far rejected.
The announcement makes little difference on the ground, where Hamas and its security forces maintain firm control of the Gaza Strip, which is not occupied by Israeli forces. But the symbolic move would shift the focus of the ceasefire deal back to Israel, as President Donald Trump presses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward with elements of the plan. This includes the establishment of a “pilot zone” in the Palestinian-populated Gaza Strip under a committee of engineers.
Hamas appealed to the mediator and the international community to urge Israel to allow the committee to enter Gaza.
“We call on all concerned parties to immediately accelerate measures for the immediate entry of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) and assume its national and administrative duties and responsibilities, in order to strengthen the solidity of our noble Palestinian people and heal their wounds,” Al-Twabta said in a statement at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City.
The peace committee set up to advance the cease-fire agreement said it was “taking note” of Hamas’ announcement but was waiting for “action, not promises.” In a statement on
Mohammad Shehada, a Gaza expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, called the statement an attempt by Hamas to “talk over Netanyahu’s head” and appeal to Trump.
“Israelis say that Hamas refuses to leave the government, especially the security. So what they (Hamas) tried to emphasize in this statement is that they are ready to give up everything, every nook and cranny when it comes to governance,” Shehada told CNN.
Shehada said Hamas considered the commission “the only way” to establish a Palestinian government in Gaza that the international community would freely recognize, calling it a “wise move.” But it’s likely too late, he said.
“Even if that gamble pays off, even if President Trump is convinced and everything goes according to plan, Israel still has ultimate control over everything in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “Israel will still obstruct NCAG.”
The NCAG was conceived in October as part of a US-brokered ceasefire plan to take over post-Hamas governance of Gaza. But the commission remains in Cairo and cannot enter Gaza or exercise any authority there.
Al-Twabta said he was “completely reassured” that Hamas had made “all administrative and legal preparations and arrangements” for the transfer of power to NCAG. Hamas also stated that employees within the government are considered state employees and can continue to work under the NCAG. According to GMO, the Gaza government has approximately 60,000 employees.
However, the timeline for such a transition to NCAG is unclear. The peace committee set up to advance the ceasefire plan last week touted two “very productive” days of meetings in Cyprus. The council said NCAG was preparing to occupy Gaza “if appropriate conditions are met,” but those conditions were not laid out amid widespread difficulties in moving the agreement forward.
Michael Milshteyn, director of the Palestine Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University, said Hamas’ announcement was not a surprise. Rather, he described it as an effort by Hamas and mediators to change the formula.
“Hamas has clearly stated that this move is aimed at paving the way for a breakthrough,” Milshtein told CNN. The main mediators – Qatar, Turkey and Egypt – are trying to present a united front to Trump and show progress on the deal, he said, adding that US pressure on Israel to implement the next steps in the agreement would increase.
The 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan, which came into force in October, has stalled, with key elements of the agreement still unfulfilled. Although the first phase of the agreement called for a complete cessation of fighting in Gaza, Israel continues to carry out almost daily airstrikes inside the enclave. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since the start of the ceasefire, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Under the second phase of the deal, Israeli forces occupied more territory in exchange for withdrawing from Gaza, now occupying about 70% of the Strip and pushing Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians into ever-shrinking land. An international force aimed at securing parts of Gaza and allowing NCAG to begin governing has not yet materialized. And Hamas has instead reasserted its hold on the Gaza Strip, which is not occupied by Israel, and recently executed Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel.
