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Hamas wants 10,000 of its police officers in Gaza administration

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated publicly that disarmament of Hamas must precede any reconstruction of Gaza.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Hamas is seeking to include about 10,000 of its police officers in a proposed U.S.-backed technocratic Palestinian administration for Gaza, Reuters reported – a demand likely to face Israeli opposition as pressure mounts on the terror group to surrender its weapons.

The development comes as an October ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump ties further Israeli troop withdrawals to Hamas giving up its arms.

Israel regards Hamas’ police and internal security forces as integral parts of the terrorist organization and has consistently rejected any Hamas role in Gaza’s future governance.

According to Reuters, a letter circulated Sunday by Gaza’s Hamas-run government instructed more than 40,000 civil servants and security personnel to cooperate with the new administration and said efforts were underway to incorporate them into it.

Four sources said this would include the roughly 10,000-member Hamas police force, many of whom have been patrolling the western half of Gaza as Hamas reasserts control in areas under its authority.

It remains unclear whether Israel would accept the inclusion of these personnel in the new governing structure.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated publicly that disarmament of Hamas must precede any reconstruction of Gaza.

“Now we are focusing on completing the two remaining missions: dismantling Hamas’ weapons and demilitarizing Gaza of arms and tunnels,” Netanyahu said.

“As I agreed with President Trump… there are only two possibilities: either this will be done the easy way or it will be done the hard way, but in any case, it will happen,” he added. “I am already hearing the statements that we will allow Gaza’s reconstruction before demilitarization. That will not happen.”

Netanyahu also rejected suggestions that Turkish or Qatari soldiers would be allowed to operate in Gaza and dismissed proposals for a Palestinian state under current conditions.

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