Hamas said on Monday it had dissolved its de facto government in Gaza and was ready to hand over to a group of Palestinian technocrats — a move it described as a step forward in a US-backed plan for the enclave, but Israel dismissed as a "stunt".
The group's promise to end its body overseeing ministries, which has run for more than a decade, was a key part of the plan for a civilian-ruled, post-war Gaza set out by US 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 US-brokered truce.
TRUMP BOARD SAYS IT WILL WATCH 'ACTIONS, NOT PROMISES'
The Trump-appointed Board of Peace, set up to monitor the plan, said it noted Hamas' 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".
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed Hamas' announcement. The group's "apparent willingness to 'make room' for a technocratic government is designed to prevent its own disarmament," Saar said on X.
"As long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates," Saar added.
Israel insists on the full implementation of Trump's plan, including Hamas laying down its weapons, he said.
Hamas has accused Israel 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.
The small coastal enclave remains in ruins more than 2-1/2 years after the latest Gaza conflict was triggered by Hamas' 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.
This is "a demonstration of the seriousness of these measures, in implementation of the agreed arrangements, and to facilitate the administrative transition process," Thawabta said.
Under the Trump-backed plan, Hamas is supposed to hand over government oversight to a National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a group of Palestinian technocrats.
The head of that National Committee, Ali Shaath, said his 15-member committee was ready to assume its responsibility in Gaza as soon as the "necessary resources and enabling conditions for its work are in place."
"The fundamental requirements for the commission's success are the existence of one authority and one law under a clear reference framework, and one weapon subject to that authority," Shaath wrote in a post on his Facebook page.
ISRAELI STRIKES KILL FIVE IN GAZA, MEDICS SAY
Israeli troops control more than 60% of Gaza, patrolling what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes as a buffer zone to deter Hamas attacks. Netanyahu says Israel will not withdraw from the territory.
Israel's devastating aerial and ground bombardment of Gaza displaced nearly the entire population of 2 million people, most of whom now live in tents or damaged buildings in a narrow coastal strip of territory governed by Hamas.
Gaza health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed a couple in an apartment in Gaza City's Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood on Monday. The Israeli military said the strike targeted and killed Fadi Ashour Daghmash, a Hamas armed commander.
Two other strikes -- one on a tent housing displaced people and another on a vehicle in Khan Younis in the south -- killed three people and wounded at least 20 others, medics said.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on those two incidents.
