Hamas strengthens its control of Gaza as Iran war rages on

“If Iran is not defeated…that’s going to be moral support for Hamas,” said a Gazan analyst.

By World Israel News Staff

The Hamas terror group is taking advantage of Israel and the world’s focus on the regional war with Iran, reasserting its control over the Gaza Strip just five months after a Trump-brokered ceasefire stipulated that the group would disarm and no longer govern the coastal enclave.

Under the terms of the deal, Hamas was required to return all Israeli hostages — both alive and dead — that it was holding in October 2025. After that, the terror group was to officially lay down its arms and allow a technocratic transitional government to assume control of the Strip.

In reality, following the return of the body of the last Israeli hostage slain during the October 7 massacres, Ran Gvili, Hamas has steadfastly refused to give up either its weapons or its grip on power in Gaza.

The time since the outbreak of the war has been a godsend for Hamas, analysts said, as the group has seized the opportunity to regroup and rebuild.

Hamas is “really making good use” of the war “to establish their power in the public sphere, not just for military rehabilitation,” Michael Milshtein, a senior analyst at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, told Fox News.

He said that Hamas has been focused on reestablishing its authority in Gaza, holding public parades to demonstrate its power, deploying its police force throughout the Strip, and recruiting new members.

“Hamas is here to stay,” Milshtein added.

Gazan political analyst Mkhaimar Abusada told Fox News that Hamas is no longer “under the pressure that they were before,” and understands that international efforts and supervision regarding the future of Gaza “have been put on hold” indefinitely.

Abusada noted that if the war with Iran does not end in a decisive victory for the U.S. and Israel, that scenario would bolster Hamas’ status.

“If Iran is not defeated, if the Iranian regime is not collapsing, that’s going to be some kind of moral support for Hamas,” he said.