Middle East war: Hamas dissolves Gaza Strip govt as part of peace plan
The body that has governed the Gaza Strip for nearly two decades has been dissolved, Hamas says as it makes way for a technocratic government.
Hamas says it has dissolved its de facto government in the Gaza Strip and is ready to hand over to a group of Palestinian technocrats - a move it described as a step forward in a US-backed plan for the enclave but Israel dismissed as a “stunt”.
The militant group’s promise to end its body overseeing ministries - which has run for more than a decade - was a key part of the plan for a civilian-ruled, post-war Gaza Strip set out by US President Donald Trump after the start of a fragile ceasefire with Israel in October.
Hamas said the ministries themselves and the staff it had appointed would stay in place and it would still oversee security and policing in parts of the strip left under its control following the US-brokered truce.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The Trump-appointed Board of Peace, set up to monitor the plan, said it noted Hamas’ move.
But it added that “ultimately, our assessment will be guided by actions, not promises, to meet the critical needs of the people of Gaza”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed Hamas’ announcement.
The group’s “apparent willingness to ‘make room’ for a technocratic government is designed to prevent its own disarmament,” Saar said on X.
“As long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates,” Saar added.
Israel insists on the full implementation of Trump’s plan including Hamas laying down its weapons, he said.
Hamas has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire and failing to go through with other parts of the plan, which calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
The small coastal enclave remains in ruins more than two and a half years after the latest Gaza Strip conflict was triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, raids on Israel.
Hamas has refused to disarm until Israel halts attacks in the territory, the latest of which killed five people on Monday, medics in the enclave said.
Israel says its attacks in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire have been aimed at thwarting militant threats.
In a press conference in Gaza City on Monday, Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas government media office, said the head of the “Government Emergency Committee” oversight body had resigned and that the body itself had been dissolved.
This is “a demonstration of the seriousness of these measures, in implementation of the agreed arrangements and to facilitate the administrative transition process,” Thawabta said.
Hamas’s trick is simple.Hamas’s apparent willingness to make room for a technocratic government is designed to prevent its own disarmament.Hamas seeks to replicate the Hezbollah model in Gaza: a technocratic administration would be responsible for garbage collection and…— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 6, 2026
Under the plan, Hamas is supposed to hand over government oversight to a National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a US-backed group of Palestinian technocrats.
The head of that National Committee, Ali Shaath, said his 15-member committee was ready to assume its responsibility as soon as the “necessary resources and enabling conditions for its work are in place”.
“The fundamental requirements for the commission’s success are the existence of one authority and one law under a clear reference framework, and one weapon subject to that authority,” Shaath wrote in a post on his Facebook page.
Israeli troops control more than 60 per cent of the Gaza Strip, patrolling what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes as a buffer zone to deter Hamas attacks.
Netanyahu says Israel will not withdraw from the territory.
Israel’s devastating aerial and ground bombardment of the enclave displaced nearly the entire population of two million people, most of whom now live in tents or damaged buildings in a narrow coastal strip of territory governed by Hamas.
Gazan health officials said an Israeli air strike killed a couple in an apartment in Gaza City’s Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood on Monday.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted and killed Fadi Ashour Daghmash, a Hamas armed commander.
Two other strikes - one on a tent housing displaced people and another on a vehicle in Khan Younis in the south - killed three people and wounded at least 20 others, medics said.
