Hamas offers to hand Gaza authority to technocratic committee

Hamas has announced the dissolution of its governing body in Gaza and said it is ready to hand civilian authority to a Palestinian technocratic committee, in a move aimed at reviving a stalled United States-backed ceasefire plan as Israel continues to control large parts of the devastated territory.

The announcement was made on Monday, with Hamas saying the body overseeing ministries in Gaza would be dissolved and that governmental responsibilities would be transferred to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

The move marks a major political shift for Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007 after winning Palestinian legislative elections the previous year and later seizing control from Fatah.

Mohammed al-Farra, the head of the government’s emergency committee, announced his resignation and the dissolution of the governing body.

“After I have ensured that all necessary preparations have been completed for the handover of the governmental system in the Gaza Strip, I hereby tender my resignation from my positions as chairman of the governmental work follow-up committee in the Gaza Strip and chairman of the governmental emergency committee,” al-Farra wrote.

Hamas said the move was being taken to facilitate an administrative transition and to demonstrate seriousness in implementing agreed arrangements under the ceasefire framework.

A Hamas official said the group wanted the swift entry of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, which has been tasked with overseeing the future administration of the territory under the US-backed plan.

“Hamas has taken a new step in that it will no longer be in charge of the Gaza Strip, in order to remove any pretexts for the occupation, which continues its aggression and war of extermination,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told AFP.

He added, “We hope for the swift entry of the [NCAG], and Hamas affirms its readiness to hand over governmental responsibilities to the committee to ensure its success.”

Ismail al-Thawabta, general director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, said only technical and professional staff would remain in place to keep essential services running.

“All employees working in service provision are ‘state employees’ and are fully prepared to work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza,” he said.

According to Al Jazeera, the NCAG was formed in January 2026 under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 as part of the US-backed 20-point plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza. The committee is led by Palestinian technocrats, including Acting Commissioner Ali Abdel Hamid Shaath, and is intended to operate as a transitional civilian administration. Its mandate includes restoring health, education and water services, while also maintaining law and order through a unified police force.

However, Israel has not allowed the committee’s members to enter Gaza. The body is currently based in Cairo.

Hamas has not promised to disarm unilaterally, as Israel and the United States have demanded.

Reuters reported that Hamas said ministries and staff would remain in place, while the group would continue to oversee security and policing in areas of Gaza still under its control following the truce.

Israel dismissed the announcement as a political manoeuvre, with its Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Hamas’s apparent willingness to make room for a technocratic administration was designed to prevent its own disarmament.

"As long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates," Saar said.

Hamas has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire and failing to implement other parts of the agreement, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Israeli troops continue to control more than 60 per cent of the Strip, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating that Israel will not withdraw from the territory.

Al Jazeera reported that at least 1,005 people have been killed in Gaza since the US-brokered ceasefire was agreed in October 2025, while at least 73,098 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023.