Hamas has set a new condition for the mediators to disarm in the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
The international news agency Reuters has claimed that Hamas has sent a letter to its civil servants in the Gaza government.
The letter was seen and read by Reuters. In which more than 40,000 civil servants and security personnel were instructed to cooperate with the NCAG.
Hamas also assured the employees in the letter that it was working to include all these officials in the new administrative structure created under the Trump plan.
These employees also include Hamas’s police force of about 10,000 officers, who have been patrolling areas where Hamas has reestablished its influence since the ceasefire.
It should be noted that this demand for these police officers to join the new administration in Gaza has never been raised by Hamas before.
Reuters contacted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office to get Israel’s position on the matter, but there was no immediate response.
It is therefore not yet clear whether Israel will accept the inclusion of these Gaza civilians and security personnel in the NCAG.
However, Israel has strongly rejected any role for Hamas in the future of Gaza.
On the other hand, Hamas-backed local media have claimed that the United States and Israel are aware of this demand and are consulting on it.
It should be remembered that Hamas’s efforts to include its 10,000-strong police force in Gaza in the future administrative structure have come as the organization is expected to hold important talks with Israel on disarmament.
According to Reuters, sources have claimed that Hamas will present this demand to the United States, which is trying to form a new Palestinian administrative structure in Gaza.
The war in Gaza, which has been ongoing since 2023, ended after the ceasefire agreement reached in October last year through the efforts of the US President and mediators.
In the first phase of this agreement, Hamas returned all the living Israeli hostages, while the bodies of the dead hostages were also handed over to Israel.
After which, in the second phase, a Peace Board has been formed under the chairmanship of US President Donald Trump to run the affairs of state in Gaza.
Under this board, the administration of Gaza will be handed over to a committee, the “National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), which is a Palestinian technocratic institution.
In this way, the affairs of state of Gaza will work practically under American supervision and will not include the formal participation of Hamas.
It should be noted that Hamas still has practical control over about half of the territory of Gaza and Hamas wants its civil servants and officials to join the new administration.