Hamas Dissolves Gaza Government Under US Ceasefire Deal
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- Hamas announced July 6, 2026, that it had dissolved its Gaza government and is preparing to transfer power to a UN-backed technical committee under a US-brokered ceasefire deal, though it did not address whether it would disarm or hand security to an international force.
- Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem called the move "a positive step forward," while general director of the Hamas-run Government Media Office Ismail al-Thawabta — a lower-level official who made the announcement at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah — said only "technical and professional staff" would remain to run day-to-day affairs under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
- The Board of Peace, the Trump-led body tasked with governing and rebuilding Gaza, said it would judge the announcement on "actions, not promises" and stressed that the technocratic committee must control all weapons in Gaza per ceasefire terms.
- Israel dismissed the move outright as irrelevant spin, with an anonymous official saying "all of the Hamas members stay in their positions" — sharpening a nine-month standoff over the deal's second phase covering disarmament and reconstruction.
- The Cairo-based committee is chaired by Ali Shaath, a Gaza-born engineer and former Palestinian Authority official, with a mandate to restore services and oversee civilian affairs under UN and Board of Peace supervision.
- Casualty backdrop: the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel with 251 hostages taken; Gaza's Health Ministry reports 73,098 Palestinians killed since, with Israeli strikes continuing almost daily — on Monday alone killing at least five, including three in Khan Younis and two in Gaza City.
Why it matters: The handover's hardest requirement — Hamas disarming — went unmentioned in Monday's announcement, which was delivered by a lower-level official and dismissed by Israel as cosmetic. With 73,098 Palestinian deaths logged and strikes continuing nine months into the ceasefire, the Board of Peace's 'actions, not promises' framing keeps reconstruction hostage to a disarmament step Hamas is still refusing to discuss.
