Senior Hamas official says group could step away from governing post-war Gaza

Guno צְבִי

We fight, We win, Am Yisrael Chai
Senior Hamas politburo official Moussa Abu Marzouk tells the Saudi Al Arabiya news outlet that the terror group is not necessarily seeking to govern the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the war it started with Israel on October 7, 2023.

He says that Hamas understands that, going forward, the governing body in the Strip will require both regional and international backing, including the support of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

 
But, in the days since the ceasefire took effect, Gaza's Hamas-run administration has moved quickly to reimpose security, to curb looting, and to start restoring basic services to parts of the enclave, swathes of which have been reduced to wasteland by the Israeli offensive.
Reuters spoke to more than a dozen residents, officials, regional diplomats and security experts who said that, despite Israel's vow to destroy it, Hamas remains deeply entrenched in Gaza and its hold on power represents a challenge to implementing a permanent ceasefire.
The Islamist group not only controls Gaza's security forces, but its administrators run ministries and government agencies, paying salaries for employees and coordinating with international NGOs, they said.
On Tuesday, its police and gunmen – who for months were kept off the streets by Israeli airstrikes – were stationed in neighbourhoods through the Strip.
"We want to prevent any kind of security vacuum," said Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office. He said that some 700 police were protecting aid convoys and not a single truck had been looted since Sunday – a contrast to the massive theft of food by criminal gangs during the conflict.
A spokesperson for the United Nations in Geneva confirmed on Tuesday there had been no reports of looting or attacks on aid workers since the ceasefire took effect.


 
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