Hamas clinging to power in Gaza, endangering ceasefire: report

International mediators fear that Hamas’ defiance could collapse the Trump-brokered truce.

By World Israel News Staff

The Hamas terror group is insisting on playing a major role in postwar Gaza’s security apparatus — a direct violation of the ceasefire with Israel, which requires the group to disarm and surrender governance of the enclave to another entity, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Hamas’s refusal to relinquish control could derail the fragile truce and lead to its collapse, international negotiators fear, the Journal reported.

Despite suffering heavy losses during the war, Hamas still retains a significant portion of its infrastructure — including an estimated 60% of its terror tunnels — and tens of thousands of fighters. That capability, the report indicated, would allow the group to fight any foreign force tasked with ensuring security in Gaza.

Many countries being considered for such a role are reluctant to assume responsibility for Gaza’s security, fearing they would be viewed by Hamas as “Israeli proxies” and become targets.

That concern was echoed recently by Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who told the BBC that his country is unwilling to enforce the ceasefire militarily. He added that other Arab and Muslim nations share the sentiment, saying that “nobody” is interested in using force to ensure Hamas disarms.

Several Muslim countries — including Turkey, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan — have floated proposals to send peacekeepers into Gaza.

Israel, however, has strongly opposed the idea of Turkish forces on the ground. It has also condemned a supposed Turkish “humanitarian organization,” which Israel and several European nations have designated as a terror group, for operating freely in Gaza.

Since the ceasefire was signed in early October, Hamas has repeatedly violated the truce.

The group has failed to return the bodies of deceased hostages, even staging a hoax recovery that turned out to be partial remains of a hostage already returned to the Jewish state — an act that infuriated Israel.

In addition, Hamas terrorists have killed three Israeli soldiers in ambushes since the ceasefire took effect, though the group denies responsibility — a claim Israel firmly rejects.