Hamas Reasserts Control Over 90% of Gaza Since Ceasefire
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- Hamas has regained control of more than 90% of areas where it operates since the October ceasefire, with police and security agencies back on the streets controlling crime, running the courts, and pursuing people it labels as collaborators, according to Gaza activist Mohammed Diab.
- Hamas has reimposed strict tax control over Gaza's import trade, with traders forced to pay duties starting at 20,000 shekels in untraceable cash; one trader told the BBC that those who refuse are kidnapped or threatened, and that traders use a code word for Hamas so Israel doesn't learn money is being siphoned off.
- Hamas carried out summary executions of blindfolded rival clan members in the streets immediately after the October ceasefire, footage of which was released publicly, as the group moved to crush clans that had expanded during the war.
- The IDF says Hamas has launched daily attacks since the ceasefire, killing four Israeli soldiers; Hamas points to repeated Israeli strikes that Gaza's Health Ministry says have killed 603 Palestinians in the same period.
- Hamas announced large-scale appointments to vacant government positions on social media last week, which Diab said shows the group is not preparing to hand over power, contradicting spokesman Hazem Qassem's claim that any new hires were low-level and technical.
- Trump's Board of Peace — comprising heads of state with a stake in Gaza — holds its first meeting in Washington on Thursday, while the next stage of the plan, including reconstruction, hinges on a disarmament deal whose verification, scope, and recipient remain undefined.
- Ground has been cleared in Israeli-held areas around Rafah for a reported US plan to build housing for 200,000 Gazans, but the BBC reports very few have crossed from Hamas-controlled areas, seen by many in Gaza as siding with the enemy.
Why it matters: Trump's peace plan now faces a critical test: Hamas has rebuilt control over 90% of Gaza and is making fresh government appointments rather than preparing to disarm, and Israel's leaders have said they will resume fighting if the group doesn't fully give up its weapons. The next stage of reconstruction hinges on a disarmament deal negotiators haven't yet defined.
