Israel has rejected a US-led roadmap for Gaza, insisting that Hamas disarm completely before implementation begins. A Spanish-language newspaper reported the impasse on October 10, about a year after the ceasefire. The plan would link Hamas’s departure from power to Israeli troop withdrawals and reconstruction.

A dispute over the sequence

The roadmap, presented by the Peace Board, calls for Hamas to surrender all its weapons and stop governing Gaza. Israeli troops would withdraw gradually, and an internationally supervised government of technocrats would take over. Reconstruction of the devastated territory would then begin.

According to the report, Hamas accepted handing over its arms and authority in July. Israel rejected the plan because it wants complete disarmament before the other steps begin. Whether Hamas has begun surrendering its weapons remains unclear.

Security and political objections

Muhammad Shehada, a researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations, described a different assessment within Israel’s security establishment. He said officials there regard disarmament as less relevant because Hamas has lost its heavy weapons and can no longer defend itself.

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Shehada said Israeli officials still favour a military option in Gaza. He also said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers Hamas to remain in power rather than transfer authority to the proposed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. That internationally backed technocratic body, he argued, would make it harder for Israel to operate freely and conduct bombings.

Netanyahu’s initial approval of the roadmap also drew criticism from his political opponents. Gadi Eisenkot, described in the report as his main rival in the October 27 elections, said it would hand decision-making power over Gaza to the United States.

The report cited earlier statements as context for Netanyahu’s approach to Hamas. At a Likud party meeting in 2019, Netanyahu said preventing a Palestinian state required supporting Hamas’s strengthening and funding. He described separating Palestinians in Gaza from those in the West Bank as part of that strategy.

Hamas retains a weakened administration

Hamas remains weakened but not fully defeated, according to the report. It is trying to retain control in the part of Gaza where Israel has concentrated about two million residents. That area covers less than 40% of the territory.

Its administration is rudimentary, the report said, citing several sources. Hamas tries to maintain online education, collects taxes from businesses still operating and pays officials when it can. Those payments amount to about $200 every two or three months.

Xavier Abu Eid, an analyst and former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization, said Hamas is internationally isolated. He said neither Qatar nor Turkey continues to support it. That isolation, he said, is one reason Hamas understands it must relinquish power.