Hamas is carrying out a wave of retribution executions and asserting its control in areas of the Gaza Strip where Israel has withdrawn, highlighting the challenge facing President Trump to get the group to give up its arms and power as part of his 20-point plan for peace.
Hamas has killed at least 33 people since the ceasefire went into effect last week, according to reporting from Reuters, with at least seven men dragged into Gaza City square on Monday.
The men, their hands bound were forced onto their knees and shot from behind in public view of dozens of people, Reuters stated.
Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former Palestinian negotiator, said that Hamas has a head start on reestablishing its control in Gaza, absent an international security force and apolitical governing body.
“The longer the time passes, and the more that they [Hamas] establish themselves on the ground now in the security sphere, we'll soon start seeing them also doing in the civilian sphere – they will start removing rubble and building a couple of schools, offering health care, all that kind of stuff – the harder it becomes to kind of dislodge them,” he said.
Hamas’s actions showcase a difficult trade-off in the ceasefire put into place.
By not demanding that Hamas first disarm and step down from power, President Trump secured on Monday the release of the remaining 20 living hostages who were held by Hamas for over two years. Work is ongoing to locate and transfer to Israel the bodies of 24 other hostages Hamas kidnapped during its Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack.
Trump said from the White House on Tuesday that if Hamas refuses to disarm, “we will disarm them.” His peace plan says that if Hamas refuses to surrender completely, Israel can restart military operations in Gaza. When clearing an area from Hamas control, the deal allows Israel to hand over an area to an International Security Force (ISF) – though such forces are still being planned and do not exist at this point.
The release of living and dead hostages is the first phase of a two-phase negotiation in the 20-point peace plan. The second phase requires negotiations for Hamas to disarm, renounce violence or choose exile from Gaza.
Majed al-Ansari, senior advisor to Qatar’s prime minister and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Fox News that phase two negotiations have started and mediating teams are “working around the clock.”
“The challenges ahead are not going to be easy,” he said.
A senior U.S. official told reporters in a briefing call on Oct. 9 that decommissioning arms, how a technocratic government would come in and run Gaza and how the Israeli army would redeploy are just some of the issues that must be resolved.
Hamas has ruled out many of these line items in public, though a second senior U.S. official said to ignore those pronouncements.
“I wouldn’t pay too much attention to public statements from anyone in the Middle East, that kind of drives reporters crazy, but it’s more about what people are saying privately and what they’re actually going to do,” the official said.
“If they don't disarm, we will disarm them and it'll happen quickly and perhaps violently,” Trump said, adding that he gave the group a deadline of a “reasonable period of time.”
Al-Omari said it will be important for the U.S. and other international partners to stay diligently engaged in the second phase of negotiations as a counterbalance to Qatar, and likely Turkey, from pushing for future terms more favorable to Hamas.
He warned ambiguity on any of the terms could undermine the strength of the peace plan.
“Is it going to be decommissioning all of Hamas’ weapons? Is it going to be decommissioning heavy weapons? And if that’s the case what is a heavy weapon? Is it rockets? Hamas is very happy to give up rockets. Is it machine guns and [rocket propelled grenades], most likely not,” he said.
Al-Omari also cautioned against Qatar supporting the inclusion of Hamas members in lower levels of an apolitical government, or pressure on the Palestinian Authority to get into a national unity government with Hamas that allows it to retain power.
“These are all kinds of things that if a mediator is inclined to support Hamas, can put their weight behind.”
But al-Omari did express support for a U.S.-led ceasefire monitoring center based in Israel that is expected to host up to 200 U.S. troops and include monitors from Egyptian, Qatari, Emirati and Turkish militaries.
Al-Omari said that the U.S. commitment to monitoring is reassuring, comparing it to the durability of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which has held for nearly a year.
But the uncertainty around setting up an International Security Force and establishing a separate governing body for Gaza risks undermining any gains achieved with the ceasefire.
“The head start notion is exactly right,” said Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, a senior fellow with the Middle East Institute.
“I think we'll just see them [Hamas] taking this opportunity to avail themselves of all the space given to rebuild and regroup.”
The control center monitoring the ceasefire is expected to transition to helping train an International Security Force to deploy into Gaza and take control from Hamas.
The senior U.S. official said on Oct. 9 that the U.S. is talking to multiple governments about setting up the ISF.
It’s not clear if the U.S. will pursue a United Nations Security Council resolution to authorize the deployment of an international peace keeping force. Doing so would legitimize foreign troops for a population already displaced multiple times over two years of war, and many who claim refugee status from Israel’s founding in 1948.
Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, who governs the world’s largest Muslim population, said he would contribute to forces only with a U.N.S.C. resolution. Malaysia, another predominantly Muslim nation, likewise said it would send troops under a multi-lateral order.
Kurtzer-Ellenbogen said the challenge to stand up and legitimize an international force poses enormous challenges, not least of which is Hamas’s public rejection of foreign forces coming into Gaza. Likewise, any foreign forces are unlikely to want to commit boots on the ground if they don’t see a similar U.S. commitment. Trump officials have ruled out U.S. troops in Gaza.
“Ultimately, this is going to be a really fragile and dangerous security environment,” she said.
And while Palestinian Security forces from the West Bank have operated in areas of Gaza, there are obstacles to beefing up those forces and also overcoming the criticism that they are collaborators with Israel. A similar perception likely has a chilling effect for Arab and Muslim forces.
“The kind of pressure that we saw being brought to bear to bring this agreement to fruition, it's going to take that same kind of coordinated and constant upkeep of pressure to move through to this second phase of the plan,” Kurtzer-Ellenbogen said.
Hence then, the article about hamas reasserts power in gaza with retribution campaign clouding peace deal s prospects was published today ( ) and is available on The Hill ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Hamas reasserts power in Gaza with retribution campaign, clouding peace deal’s prospects )
Also on site :