Hamas dissolves Gaza government

Hamas said on Monday it had dissolved its de facto government in Gaza and signalled it was ready to hand over to ​a group of Palestinian technocrats, as it presses Israel to honour other parts of a stalled U.S.-backed peace plan.

The group's promise ‌to end the body overseeing ministries — which has run for more than a decade — was a key part of the plan for a post-war Gaza set out by U.S. President Donald Trump after the start of a fragile ceasefire with Israel in October.

Hamas said the ministries themselves and the staff it had appointed would stay in place and it would ​still oversee security and policing in parts of Gaza left under its control following the U.S.-brokered truce.


The Trump-appointed Board of Peace, set up to monitor the plan, said it noted Hamas's move. But it added ⁠that "ultimately, our assessment will be guided by actions, not promises, to meet the critical needs of the people of Gaza".

There was no immediate comment from ​Israel, which Hamas has accused of repeatedly violating the ceasefire and failing to go through with other parts of the plan, which calls for Israeli forces ​to withdraw from Gaza as Hamas lays down its weapons.

The small coastal enclave remains in ruins more than 2-1/2 years after the latest Gaza conflict was triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 raids on Israel.

Hamas has refused to disarm until Israel halts attacks in Gaza, the latest of which killed five people on Monday, medics in the enclave said. ​Israel says its attacks in Gaza since the ceasefire have been aimed at thwarting militant threats.

In a press conference in Gaza City on Monday, Ismail ​Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas government media office, said the head of the "Government Emergency Committee" oversight body had resigned and that the body itself had been dissolved.

-Reuters