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Hamas dissolves Gaza governing body as transition fight shifts

Hamas says it has dissolved its Gaza governing apparatus and is ready to transfer civilian authority to a technocratic committee. Israel and the Board of Peace say the test is whether the group disarms and lets the committee actually govern.

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Hamas dissolves Gaza governing body as transition fight shifts
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A handover offer with strings attached

Hamas moved Monday to unwind the civilian apparatus it has used to govern Gaza, saying the head of its emergency committee had resigned and that day-to-day authority should pass to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.aljazeera +1 The announcement names the technocratic committee envisioned under the U.S.-backed ceasefire framework, but it does not settle the harder question of whether Hamas will give up its weapons.cnn +1

The step is meant to show that Hamas is prepared to leave civilian administration after nearly two decades in control of the enclave.aljazeera Ismail al-Thwabta, head of the Hamas-run Government Media Office, said the group had made administrative and legal preparations for the transfer, while Hamas also said existing civil servants would continue working under the new committee.cnn +1

The proposed authority is still outside Gaza

The NCAG, headed by Palestinian technocrat Ali Shaath, has been unable to enter Gaza or exercise authority there, despite being designed as the body that would run the enclave under the postwar plan.cnn +1 Shaath said the committee was ready to assume its responsibilities once the required conditions and resources were in place.aljazeera +1

The Board of Peace, which oversees the plan, responded cautiously, saying it would judge the move by "actions, not promises" and reiterating that Gaza should have "one authority, one law and one weapon".cnn +1 Nickolay Mladenov, the board's high representative, said agreement on remaining implementation provisions would allow the NCAG to begin work, weapons decommissioning to start and Israeli forces to withdraw.thenationalnews +1

Israel and mediators see different leverage

Israeli officials dismissed the announcement as spin, arguing that Hamas is trying to reduce pressure while keeping its military power intact.timesofisrael +1 The Jerusalem Post reported, citing diplomatic sources, that Hamas had resisted access to weapons stored in tunnels and rejected a condition that all arms in Gaza be held exclusively by the technocratic authority.jpost

Hamas framed the move as a way to remove Israeli objections to the next phase of the ceasefire plan, calling for the committee to enter Gaza quickly.aljazeera +1 The dispute leaves the transition caught between three unresolved tests: whether Hamas actually yields command over public institutions, whether the committee receives security and funding guarantees, and whether Israel permits a governing body it can accept to operate inside the strip.timesofisrael +1