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** Hamas's Latest Trick: Leaving Government, Keeping Weapons ([link removed])
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • July 9, 2026 at 5:00 am
* The key question is not who sits in ministerial offices in the Gaza Strip. The key question is who holds the guns.
* Nothing essential has changed.
* Hamas is not dismantling its military wing. It is not surrendering its weapons. It is not disbanding its security apparatus. It is not ending its command structure. Thousands of Hamas employees and loyalists will also remain embedded in the Gaza Strip's institutions.
* "Hamas's apparent willingness to make room for a technocratic government is designed to prevent its own disarmament.... [A]s long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates." — Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar,
* Sa'ar warned that Hamas seeks to replicate the Hezbollah model in the Gaza Strip: a civilian administration would be responsible for garbage collection, public services, reconstruction, and salaries, while Hamas would remain the dominant military force.
* This is not peace and stability. It is simply outsourcing civilian responsibilities while preserving the machinery of jihad (holy war).
* "The ceaseless headlines about Hamas 'ending its government' in Gaza and 'preparing to give up control' are yet another ruse and a nothing‑burger dressed up as a concession by the terror group, which has zero intention of relinquishing real power or disarming.... None of this resembles disarmament. Hamas's al‑Qassam Brigades are working nonstop to repair tunnel networks and rebuild munitions stockpiles... Yet the media coverage of this non‑event has already reframed Hamas as cooperative, reasonable, even constructive; a narrative shift that obscures Hamas's role as the primary obstacle to Gaza's recovery. And this is landing successfully and working well for Hamas.... Ultimately, Hamas 'dissolving its government' will be judged by simple metrics like whether Gazans can share posts on Facebook without being tortured, beaten, or dragged into hospital interrogation rooms, abuses that continued from October 7 until just last week. Until that changes, the headlines are theater, and Hamas's
grip in Gaza remains intact." — Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Palestinian political analyst, x.com, June 6, 2026.
* A technocratic government financed by foreign donors would relieve Hamas of the financial burden of governing while allowing the terrorist group to concentrate on rebuilding its military machine.
* The full implementation of the Trump peace plan requires the dismantling of Hamas's military capabilities and the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. Allowing Hamas to establish a Hezbollah-style state within a state would guarantee continued instability and ensure that any future Palestinian administration remained hostage to an armed terrorist organization.
* The only meaningful solution is for Hamas to dissolve itself, and not merely one of its governing committees. This means dismantling both its political and military structures, surrendering all of its weapons, disbanding its security apparatus, relinquishing every instrument of coercion, and disappearing as an armed political force.
* Until Hamas disappears as both a political movement and a terrorist organization, declarations about dissolving committees amount to little more than political make-believe designed to secure international legitimacy, unlock billions of dollars in aid, and buy time for the next war.

The key question is not who sits in ministerial offices in the Gaza Strip. The key question is who holds the guns. Hamas is not dismantling its military wing. It is not surrendering its weapons. Pictured: Hamas terrorists take part in a military parade in the Gaza Strip on July 19, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images)

Nearly three years after the October 7, 2023 massacre and more than six months after President Donald J. Trump's 20-point peace plan called for the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Hamas has announced that it is dissolving its de facto governing body and is prepared to hand authority to a committee of Palestinian technocrats.

At first glance, the announcement appears to represent an important concession. It is not. It is merely Hamas's latest attempt to deceive the international community into believing that it is complying with the requirements of the Trump peace initiative while preserving what matters most to the terrorist organization: its military power.

The key question is not who sits in ministerial offices in the Gaza Strip. The key question is who holds the guns.

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