A report by the Daily Telegraph reveals that, far from Hamas voluntarily relinquishing its weapons and power, the terrorist group has now consolidated its status as the sole ruler of the Gaza strip.
Within hours of the IDF withdrawal, the first stage of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace initiative, the Hamas terrorist organization had reestablished its presence across Gaza City and other key urban areas of the Strip, as though the two years of war had never occurred. Only two days earlier, Hamas leaders had been hiding in tunnels, fearing Israeli airstrikes.
Beatings, interrogations, disappearances, and mass public executions have swiftly become part of daily life for the exhausted population. The brutality has led a spokesman for the Palestinian security forces in Ramallah to compare Hamas’s behavior to that of the Islamic State.
At the same time, Hamas is rearming, recruiting, reorganizing, and repairing its vast tunnel network, according to a detailed analysis by The Telegraph.
Senior Trump administration officials visited Israel this week to express confidence in the peace deal. Yet analysts warn that the situation on the ground suggests Hamas has no intention of relinquishing power.
Dr. Kobi Michael, former head of the Palestinian Division at Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, said Hamas is seeking to redefine postwar reality in Gaza to make its rule permanent. “Every day they advance significantly,” he said. “Hamas hasn’t changed its mindset. They do not intend to disarm, they do not intend to leave Gaza, and they certainly do not plan to step aside in the ‘day after’ scenario.”
Hamas’s first order of business was to confront Gaza’s armed clans, the families that had grown stronger in recent months with Israeli support. An especially brutal attack on the Dagmoush clan, which had refused Israeli assistance near Gaza City during the first weekend of the ceasefire, ended with mass executions of prisoners before large crowds, shocking observers worldwide.
Since then, less publicized but equally violent clashes have erupted with other families, including the group led by Yasser Abu Shabab in southern Gaza. Lacking Israeli air cover, the clans found themselves outgunned and outmatched by Hamas militants equipped with seemingly endless ammunition, RPGs, and small attack drones.
Social media accounts linked to Hamas have regularly posted news of executed opponents, often accompanied by graphic photos and videos. Analyses of these posts suggest the organization has acquired new military equipment — including off-road vehicles and weaponry — some of which may have originally been supplied by Israel.
President Trump sharply criticized Hamas for breaching the ceasefire, vowing that “we will disarm them.” Yet according to Dr. Michael, Hamas does not take the threats seriously. “They understand Trump,” he explained. “They know he’s focused on achieving the first stage — ending the war — and that he’ll leave the subsequent details to officials and professionals.”
In essence, Michael believes Trump seeks a calm Gaza that would allow him to continue building his broader regional alliance, while showing flexibility regarding what that reality looks like on the ground.
He also pointed to the White House’s growing reliance on Turkey and Qatar in the peace process, both officially designated as “custodians” of the plan, and both sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood ideology upon which Hamas was founded.
Israeli officials fear that, working with armed groups on the ground, Ankara and Doha will prolong negotiations and pressure Washington to accept a scenario in which Hamas remains armed, and compel Israel to do the same. The rapid reassertion of Hamas control may thus be part of a deliberate strategy to project its dominance as an irreversible fact.
According to Ahmad Fouad al-Khatib, a Gaza-born political analyst and senior fellow at a U.S. think tank, Hamas is now consolidating its control through fear and coercion.
“Having released the living hostages, Hamas’s only bargaining chip is its rule over the two million Palestinians still inside Gaza,” he said.
In the two weeks since the ceasefire took effect, Hamas has reopened its notorious “interrogation centers” within Gaza’s main hospitals,facilities previously documented by The British-based Telegraph newspaper during the war. Dozens of residents have reportedly been summoned for questioning. Locals claim that social media influencers and others who spoke out during the fighting,when Hamas was less able to retaliate, have since fallen silent or disappeared altogether.
Analysts note that Hamas justifies its repression under the guise of “restoring order and security.” Dedicated Telegram channels now circulate daily videos showing alleged offenders having their legs broken with iron rods or their knees crushed.
In a recent podcast for the Misgav Institute, al-Khatib observed:
“Hamas has reestablished an atmosphere of fear — a deterrent effect. Their message is: ‘We spent two years in tunnels, two years fighting Israel, and we’re still here. We will not disarm. We will not accept an international stabilization force. You, the civilians, are our hostages now.’”
Negotiations over Gaza’s future, currently underway in Egypt, threaten to expose sharp divisions across the Middle East. Turkey and Qatar are reportedly pushing to preserve much of the status quo, or at least to ensure Hamas’s inclusion as a central political actor. Unconfirmed reports suggest that both states have persuaded Egypt, despite its hostility to the Muslim Brotherhood, to allow them to appoint half of the technocrats in Gaza’s planned “Peace Council,” a concession Israel is unlikely ever to accept.
In contrast, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other states are advocating for a prominent role for the Palestinian Authority in postwar Gaza. Several non-Hamas armed factions now facing Hamas’s crackdowns have long-standing ties to Fatah, the PA’s ruling party, and hope for its return.
Much depends on the makeup and authority of the proposed international stabilization force. Israel has rejected any Turkish participation, though the White House is pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu to remain open to the idea.
For now, Indonesia and Azerbaijan appear the most likely contributors of troops — a prospect that has not inspired confidence in the force’s capacity to enforce genuine disarmament.
Israeli security officials draw uneasy comparisons to the UN’s peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, which has conspicuously failed to prevent Hezbollah’s rearmament.
Hamas recently called on residents via social media to report unexploded munitions, of which vast quantities remain scattered across Gaza,raising fears that the material could be repurposed for future attacks.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civilians, most of them displaced,continue to live on the edge of survival in overcrowded refugee areas as winter approaches.
“There are tens of thousands of Gazans desperate to escape the hell of living in tents,” one resident told The Telegraph. “Reconstruction won’t begin until Hamas accepts the terms of the deal. And yet we already see Hamas back in control of the streets, gunmen everywhere. No one expected this after the signing of peace. Gaza remains trapped in a dark circle.”
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