Hamas Dissolves Gaza Governing Body But Refuses to Disarm — What It Means for Peace

Hamas has dissolved the governing body that has controlled the Gaza Strip for almost two decades, announcing on Monday it would hand civilian administration to a US-backed committee of Palestinian technocrats — a significant political shift that experts say still falls well short of what is needed for a lasting peace.

The announcement was made by Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas media office in Gaza, who confirmed the group had disbanded its Government Emergency Committee and would transfer day-to-day administrative responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a 15-member technocratic body based in Cairo. The move follows a ceasefire brokered in October 2025 and a 20-point peace plan shaped under US President Donald Trump.

Hamas has governed Gaza since 2007, when it seized control from rival Palestinian faction Fatah following legislative elections the previous year. It is listed as a terrorist organisation by Australia, the European Union, and several other countries.

What the Handover Actually Involves

Under the announced arrangement, government ministries and existing civil servants would remain in place. Hamas also said it would continue to oversee security and policing in parts of Gaza still under its control — a detail that highlights the limits of the transfer.

The NCAG describes itself as a "transitional, technocratic and apolitical" body composed exclusively of qualified Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Its mandate, it says, is focused on civilian affairs and does not extend to representing Palestinians internationally.

NCAG Chief Commissioner Ali Shaath said the committee was "fully prepared" to assume its responsibilities, but stressed that several conditions must first be met — including a single governing authority operating under one legal framework, and a unified security apparatus accountable to that authority. Shaath framed the committee's goal around the principle of "one authority, one law and one weapon."

The committee's stated role is transitional, intended to hold until the Palestinian Authority completes a reform program — at which point a "credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood" could be established.

Board of Peace representative Nickolay Mladenov, appointed by the Trump administration to help oversee the NCAG's work, welcomed the development as "bringing the roadmap discussions to a successful conclusion," calling it "the bridge between declarations and implementation." The Board itself, however, struck a more cautious tone, saying it would judge progress by "actions, not promises" and reiterating that all weapons must eventually come under NCAG control.

The Core Problem: Hamas Will Not Disarm

Despite the headline shift in governance, analysts and experts are united on one point: Hamas has not agreed to give up its weapons, and that remains the central obstacle to any durable resolution.

Gaza political expert Mkhaimar Abusada described the announcement as a "symbolic gesture," arguing that whether Hamas steps aside from civilian administration is far less consequential to the peace process than the question of the group retaining its military capability. "Hamas has not agreed to disarming itself, and that is still the sticking point," he said.

Ian Parmeter, a Middle East specialist at the ANU Centre of Arab and Islamic Studies, was similarly blunt, saying there was "little to no chance" of Hamas disarming in the foreseeable future. He noted that Israel has made its position unambiguous: no reconstruction of Gaza will proceed until Hamas surrenders its weapons entirely. "Israel is determined that nothing will happen in terms of reconstruction of Gaza as a whole until Hamas gives up its weapons," Parmeter said.

Israel has consistently maintained that any lasting agreement must include Hamas fully disarming and the complete demilitarisation of Gaza — conditions the militant group has said it will not accept unless Israel first ends all military operations in the territory.

The Human Cost and What Comes Next

The political manoeuvrings are playing out against a devastating humanitarian backdrop. The conflict that erupted following the October 7, 2023 attacks — in which more than 1,000 Israeli civilians were killed and more than 250 taken captive — escalated into a two-year war that resulted in the deaths of approximately 70,000 Palestinians and 2,000 Israelis, and the destruction of entire cities across Gaza before the ceasefire was signed. United Nations investigations found that around 30 per cent of Palestinian deaths were children, and the UN has found Israel's military response amounted to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

For civilians in Gaza who have endured nearly two years of catastrophic violence and a prolonged humanitarian crisis, Hamas's political pivot offers uncertain comfort. The NCAG cannot begin substantive work until the security and administrative conditions it has outlined are in place — conditions that hinge, in large part, on the unresolved question of who controls the guns.

The situation in the broader region remains volatile. As ceasefire frameworks continue to be tested across the Middle East, the tensions underpinning this latest development echo wider dynamics — including fragile ceasefire arrangements elsewhere in the region that have similarly struggled to translate political agreements into lasting stability on the ground.

Whether Hamas's move proves to be a genuine turning point or, as some experts suggest, a tactical concession that leaves the group's real power intact will depend on what follows — and on whether the disarmament question can ever be bridged.