Hamas reasserts Gaza control, post-war talks grind on

Gazans say Hamas is trying to expand its control over Gaza, from regulating chicken prices to imposing a fee on cigarettes, at a time when US plans for its future are slowly taking shape; This raises doubts about whether his rivals will relinquish authority as promised.

After a ceasefire began last month, Hamas quickly reestablished its grip on areas from which Israel had withdrawn, killing dozens of Palestinians it accused of collaborating with Israel, stealing or other crimes.

Foreign powers are demanding that the group disarm and leave the government, but they have not yet agreed on who will replace them.

Now a dozen Gazans say they increasingly feel Hamas’ control in other ways.

Authorities monitor everything coming into Hamas-held areas of Gaza, impose fees on some privately imported goods, including fuel and cigarettes, and fine traders who overcharge for goods, according to 10 Gazans, three of whom had direct knowledge.

Ismail Al-Sawabta, head of the media office of the Hamas government, denied that the government had increased any taxes, saying that statements that Hamas had introduced taxes on cigarettes and fuel were false.

Thawabta said authorities were making “intensive efforts” to control prices only while carrying out urgent humanitarian and administrative tasks.

He reiterated that Hamas was ready to be handed over to a new technocratic administration and said this was aimed at preventing chaos in Gaza: “Our goal is for the transition to go smoothly.”

Hatem Abu Dalal, the owner of a shopping mall in Gaza, said that prices are high because there are not enough products coming to Gaza.

He said government representatives were trying to bring order to the economy by going around, checking goods and setting prices.

Mohammed Khalifa, a shopper in the Nuseyrat district in central Gaza, said prices are constantly changing despite regulatory efforts.

“This place is like a stock market,” he said.

“Prices are high. There is no income, conditions are difficult, life is difficult, winter is coming,” he said.

US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan provided for a ceasefire on October 10 and the release of the last hostages captured in the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The plan calls for the establishment of an interim authority, the deployment of a multinational security force, the disarmament of Hamas and the beginning of reconstruction.

But Reuters, citing multiple sources, reported this week that a de facto partition of Gaza looks increasingly likely, with Israeli forces still deployed in more than half the area and efforts to advance the plan stalled.

Almost all of Gaza’s two million people live in areas controlled by Hamas, which seized control of the territory from President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority and Fatah Movement in 2007.

Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute think tank, said Hamas’s actions are aimed at showing both Gazans and foreign powers that it cannot be bypassed.

“The longer the international community waits, the stronger Hamas becomes,” Omari said.

When asked to comment on Gazans’ statements that Hamas was charging for some goods, among other reported activities, a US State Department spokesman said: “This is why Hamas cannot and will not govern Gaza.”

The spokesman stated that a new Gaza government can be established after the United Nations approves Trump’s plan, and added that progress has been made towards the formation of a multinational force.

The Palestinian Authority is pushing for a say in Gaza’s new government, but Israel rejects the idea of ​​re-ruling Gaza.

Fatah and Hamas disagreed over how the new governing body should be formed.

Fatah spokesman in Gaza, Munther al-Hayek, said Hamas’ actions were “a clear indication that Hamas wants to continue ruling the country.”

Hamas’ Gaza government employed close to 50,000 people, including police officers, before the war.

Hamas officials and economists familiar with the matter said Hamas officials continued to pay them salaries during the war, but this reduced the top wage, reducing wages to 1,500 shekels ($A720) a month.

With EFE and AP

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