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Hamas has announced its intention to hand over governing authority in Gaza after two decades in power and has called for a U.S.-backed interim administration to take over the Palestinian territory. It was not immediately clear how far Monday's announcement would go toward strengthening a partially respected ceasefire in Gaza or improving conditions in the besieged coastal strip, which is still in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.
While announcing that it was ready to hand over security as part of a transition, Hamas's statement made no promise to disarm unilaterally, as Israel and the US have demanded.
The interim administration to which Hamas has offered to transfer governance, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), has been blocked from entering Gaza by Israel since its creation in January as part of a US-brokered ceasefire, adding further doubt to the timing of any future handover.
Analysts said Hamas's announcement was largely a symbolic step aimed at reviving a stalled peace process that has blocked reconstruction and humanitarian aid for Gaza's population of 2.1 million.
They also said the measure was designed to counter Israeli-led proposals to limit NCAG aid, reconstruction and governance to a small portion of Gaza's population in specially built villages in the roughly 60% of Gaza under direct Israeli military control.
The Trump administration has given its support to the plan, which officials have variously called a "humanitarian city," "alternative safe communities" or "New Rafah," but which former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called a "concentration camp."
Mohammed al-Farra, head of Hamas' administration, announced his resignation and the handover of power to the NCAG. He suggested that Hamas would immediately end its political leadership of the Gaza government, but that civil servants and public employees would remain in their jobs in a professional capacity until the NCAG arrived.
“ After ensuring that all necessary preparations have been completed for the handover of the government system in the Gaza Strip, I hereby offer my resignation from my positions as chairman of the government committee for following up on work in the Gaza Strip and chairman of the government emergency committee ,” al-Farra wrote, referring to the two different titles that Hamas has adopted for its government in Gaza since seizing full power in 2007.
A Hamas spokesman, Hazem Qassem, told Agence France-Presse: “Hamas has taken a new step, no longer being responsible for the Gaza Strip, in order to eliminate any pretext for the occupation, which continues its aggression and war of extermination.”
The prospect of a political transition still seems distant. The NCAG is overseen by the Peace Board established by Donald Trump as part of a ceasefire plan brokered by his administration in October.
However, its 13 current members, mostly prominent Palestinian professionals, have been prevented from entering Gaza by Benjamin Netanyahu's Israeli government and have remained stranded in Cairo since they convened in January.
NCAG chairman Ali Shaath wrote on social media on Monday that the committee was "fully prepared to assume its national responsibilities as soon as the necessary resources and capabilities are available."
In a report to the UN Security Council in May, Trump's appointed senior representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, blamed Hamas for the impasse in the peace process.
Hamas has made it clear that it will not give up its weapons, while Israel directly controls more than 60% of Gaza, commits mass ceasefire violations, and supports Palestinian paramilitary groups within the territory.
Mladenov was widely criticized for a lack of impartiality in failing to hold Israel accountable for its violations. The Peace Board's response to Hamas's statement on Monday was non-committal, saying only that it had "taken note" of the announcement.
" Ultimately, our assessment will be guided by actions, not promises, to meet the critical needs of the people of Gaza. The core principle remains one authority, one law, one weapon. This means consolidating all weapons under the control of the NCAG ," the board said on its social media account.
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