More than four months after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip went into effect, Hamas has still not laid down its weapons despite repeated warnings by US President Donald J. Trump. Hamas, in fact, not only continues to rule large parts of the Gaza Strip that are still under its control but also seems to be working hard to rearm, regroup and reassert its control over areas of the Gaza Strip from which the Israel Defense Forces have withdrawn.
According to Israeli security sources:
"Hamas recently strengthened its control over the Gaza Strip by stealing humanitarian aid and selling it to local residents, recruiting young men in mosques, collecting taxes, and kidnapping and torturing anyone who dares to speak out against the terror group."
A secret document obtained by Israel's Channel 11 Kan News reveals how Hamas is planning to control and run the Gaza Strip under the nose of the newly established Palestinian technocratic committee:
"A confidential internal document sent by Hamas leadership to the organization's civil administration officials in the Gaza Strip, ahead of the arrival of the technocratic government, reveals how Hamas plans to continue controlling the management of the Strip even after the new government takes office."
"The document, obtained by Kan News, includes detailed instructions for Hamas's administrative officials regarding their day-to-day conduct vis-à-vis the technocratic government.
"According to the document, all officials are instructed to continue their regular work routine as if nothing has changed — thereby effectively preserving the existing mechanisms of control.
"The document further states that officials are strictly forbidden from attacking members of the technocratic government or its head on social media, in order to avoid overt friction or public confrontation.
"At the same time, officials are given a clear directive not to establish any personal contact with members of the government, nor to pass on any information or intelligence — except through the 'relevant authority,' which in practice is Hamas itself.
In this way, the document outlines an operational framework in which the technocratic government appears to function, while the actual management of systems, the flow of information, and control over the civil administration remain in Hamas's hands."
The document shows that Hamas is intent on preserving its role as a major actor in the Gaza Strip while ignoring Trump's new "Board of Peace" and the Palestinian technocratic committee. Hamas wants Trump's Board of Peace and the technocratic committee to focus on reconstruction, economic projects, and paying salaries to Palestinian civil servants while it continues, through a shadow government, to effectively rule the Gaza Strip, manufacture stockpile weaponry and prepare for a new attack on Israel, similar to its October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel's southern communities.
Commenting on the Hamas document outlining the terror group's plan to maintain control of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian political analyst Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib wrote:
"Hamas's police force in Gaza is going full throttle to demonstrate that it alone is in control of the Strip and cannot be replaced, producing slick propaganda videos and footage proving its continued presence. At least half of its officers are current terror operatives who participated in al-Qassam Brigades activities and are attempting to rebrand themselves as mere civil servants. The new technocratic committee, tasked with implementing President Trump's plan, must never allow these officers to be part of the new security architecture of the Gaza Strip. The US administration must not allow these terrorists to respawn and ensure that Hamas's grip on Gaza lives on."
He added:
"Hamas in Gaza is not going anywhere; it's 100 steps ahead of the US, Israel, the Arabs and the international community, ready to pounce on the newly established technocratic committee."
As part of its plan to maintain its security control over the Gaza Strip, Hamas is seeking to incorporate its 10,000 police officers into a new US-backed Palestinian administration, Palestinian sources told Reuters.
"In a letter to staff, seen by Reuters, Gaza's Hamas-run government urged its more than 40,000 civil servants and security personnel to cooperate with the technocratic committee but assured them it was working to incorporate them into the new government... The militant group is still believed to possess rockets, which several diplomats estimated to number in the hundreds."
If true, this means that Hamas is seeking to take advantage of Trump's 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war to rebrand and renew itself. There can be no peace, security or stability in the Gaza Strip if the same terrorists who murdered, tortured, and mutilated thousands of Israelis and foreign nationals on October 7 are given new uniforms, rearmed and allowed to serve as a paramilitary force. There also can be no peace, security, or stability in the Gaza Strip so long as Hamas is permitted to function as a shadow government in the Gaza Strip. The talk about allowing Hamas to "freeze" or "store" its weapons is misguided and falls short of the full disarmament (decommissioning weapons) required by the Trump plan.
With countries such as Qatar, Turkey and Pakistan sitting on Trump's Board of Peace, it is hard to see how Hamas could ever be forced to lay down its weapons and give up control of the Gaza Strip. These countries -- longtime sponsors and funders of Hamas -- will never take part in any effort to disarm Hamas or remove it from power. What we are witnessing is a clear attempt by Hamas and its Arab and Muslim sponsors to hoodwink the Trump administration and the rest of the international community.
Will Trump choose to fall for it and join the Legacy of Losers -- like British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain? Chamberlain will forever be recalled waving a fraudulent piece of paper and idiotically claiming that he had achieved "peace for our time." Is that how Trump would like to be remembered throughout history?
Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
