Hamas says govt will dissolve when Gazan body installed
Hamas has said it will dissolve the current government in the Gaza Strip if the Palestinian technocratic leadership committee seizes the territory under the US-brokered peace plan.
However, the militant group did not provide any details on when the change would happen.
Hamas and the rival Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinians, have not named the technocrats, who are not supposed to have political affiliations, and it remains unclear whether they will be approved by Israel and the United States.
The “Peace Board”, an international body led by US President Donald Trump, is supposed to oversee the government and other aspects of the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, including the disarmament of Hamas and the deployment of international security force.
Board members were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, the death toll continued to rise after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, with three Palestinians dying in two separate incidents as a result of Israeli fire, according to Palestinian hospital officials.
Medics said one Palestinian was killed in the Tuffah neighborhood of Palestinian-controlled Gaza City, while two other Palestinians were killed south of the enclave in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, which Israel still occupies.
The Israeli army said its forces posed an immediate threat by opening fire on a “terrorist” who crossed into the area under their control in the northern Gaza Strip. “A hit has been detected,” he added.
No comment was made about the incident in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Since Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire in October, two years after the war, fighting has largely eased but not completely stopped.
Israel and Hamas shared blame for the violation of the agreement.
A Hamas official said Sunday that the group had called on mediators to intervene to stop “daily Israeli killings aimed at breaking the ceasefire agreement.”
More than 440 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and three Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire, according to Gaza health officials.
The ceasefire began with the cessation of hostilities and the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for thousands of Palestinians held by Israel.
The agreement is still in its early stages as efforts continue to recover the remains of the last remaining hostage in the area.
An Egyptian official, who discussed closed-door information on condition of anonymity, said Hamas sent a delegation to meet with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish officials to move on to the second phase.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem called for speeding up the establishment of the technocratic committee in comments published on his Telegram channel on Sunday.
The Egyptian official said Hamas will meet with other Palestinian groups this week to finalize the formation of the committee.
The Hamas delegation will be led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, the official said.
Trump said the “Peace Board” would monitor the committee and consider disarmament of Hamas, deployment of international security force, further withdrawal of Israeli troops and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
The United States has reported little progress on any of these fronts, although board members are expected to be announced this week.
Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov has been chosen as the board’s director general, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
Mladenov is a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister who served as the United Nations envoy to Iraq before being appointed as the UN Middle East peace envoy from 2015 to 2020.
During this time he had good working relations with Israel and often worked to ease Israel-Hamas tensions.
via Reuters
