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22-02-2026
CAIRO/ JERUSALEM: Hamas is cementing its hold over Gaza by placing loyalists in key government roles, collecting taxes and paying salaries, according to an Israeli military assessment seen by media and sources in the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas’ continuing influence over key Gaza power structures has fueled widespread scepticism about the prospects of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which requires the militant group to give up its weapons in exchange for an Israeli military withdrawal from the territory.
Trump’s international Board of Peace, which is meant to supervise Gaza’s transitional governance, is holding its inaugural meeting in Washington on Thursday.
“Hamas is advancing steps on the ground meant to preserve its influence and grip in the Gaza Strip ‘from the bottom up’ by means of integrating its supporters in government offices, security apparatuses and local authorities,” the military said in a document presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late January.
Hamas says it is ready to hand over administration of the enclave to a US-backed committee of Palestinian technocrats headed by Ali Shaath, a former Palestinian Authority official in the occupied West Bank but it says Israel has not yet allowed committee members to enter Gaza to assume their responsibilities.
Netanyahu did not respond to Reuters’ questions about Hamas’ control over Gaza. An Israeli government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, dismissed any notion of a future role for the group as “twisted fantasy”, saying, “Hamas is finished as a governing authority in the Gaza Strip.”
The Israeli military declined to comment on Hamas’ assertions.
Israeli military officials say Hamas, which refuses to disarm, has been taking advantage of an October ceasefire to reassert control in areas vacated by Israeli troops. Israel still holds over half of Gaza, but nearly all its 2 million people are in Hamas-held areas.
Media could not determine the full scope of Hamas’ appointments and attempts to replenish its coffers. Hamas has named five district governors, all of them with links to its armed al-Qassam Brigades, according to two Palestinian sources with direct knowledge of its operations. It has also replaced senior officials in Gaza’s economy and interior ministries, which manage taxation and security, the sources said.
And a new deputy health minister was shown touring Gaza hospitals in a ministry video released this month.
“Shaath may have the key to the car, and he may even be allowed to drive, but it is a Hamas car,” one of the sources told media.
Israel’s military appears to have reached a similar conclusion.
“Looking ahead, without Hamas disarmament and under the auspices of the technocrat committee, Hamas will succeed, in our view, to preserve influence and control in the Gaza Strip,” it said in its assessment, which was first reported by Israel’s Channel 13 news. This is the most complete account of the document’s contents.
Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-controlled government’s media office, denied these were new appointments, saying temporary replacements had been found for posts left vacant during the war to “prevent any administrative vacuum” and ensure residents receive vital services while negotiations continue over next steps in the peace process.
The US State Department and Shaath’s National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A source close to the 15-member NCAG said it was aware of Hamas’ actions and was not happy about them. (Int’l News Desk)
