Hamas says ready to transfer Gaza governance to Palestinian committee

Deir el-Balah: Hamas said Wednesday it was ready to transfer the governance of Gaza to a Palestinian technocratic committee, while insisting the key Rafah border crossing be fully reopened within days.

“Protocols are prepared, files are complete, and committees are in place to oversee the handover, ensuring a complete transfer of governance in the Gaza Strip across all sectors to the technocratic committee,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP.

The 15-member National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) is a team of Palestinian technocrats created as part of the US-sponsored ceasefire agreement which came into effect on October 10.

It is charged with managing the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza and will work under the supervision of the “Board of Peace”, which US President Donald Trump will chair.

The NCAG, headed by former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath, is expected to enter the Gaza Strip once the territory’s Rafah crossing, on its border with Egypt, reopens.

Hamas spokesman Qassem added that the Rafah crossing “must be opened in both directions, with full freedom of exit and entry to the Gaza Strip, without any Israeli obstacles”.

Rafah is Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world that does not lead to Israel and is a key entry point for both people and goods.

It has been closed since Israeli forces took control of it in May 2024, except for a limited reopening in early 2025, and other bids to reopen have failed to materialise.

NCAG head Shaath announced last week that Rafah would reopen in both directions the following week.

Qassem told AFP the “independent national committee’s announcement of the opening of the Rafah crossing is important”.

“What is more important is that we monitor this committee’s handling of citizens’ departures and entries in full freedom in accordance with the agreement, and not according to Israeli conditions,” he added.

Israel has said it would only allow pedestrians to travel through the crossing as part of its “limited reopening” once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili.

Israeli forces brought back Gvili’s remains on Monday and his funeral was held in the southern town of Meitar on Wednesday.

Qassem said Wednesday that “it is clear that Hamas is committed to the agreement to stop the war on the Gaza Strip”, which began in October 7, 2023.

“It has carried out everything required of it in the first phase and is ready to enter all tracks of the second phase,” he added.

With the technocratic committee’s creation and the last hostage held in Gaza returned to Israel, the ceasefire deal’s next important milestones will be Hamas’s disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.

Though Hamas said the return of Gvili’s body showed its commitment to the ceasefire deal, it has so far not surrendered its weapons.

The group has repeatedly said disarmament is a red line, but it has also suggested it would be open to handing over its weapons to a Palestinian governing authority.

Neither Israel nor Hamas have committed to a clear date or strategy for withdrawal or disarmament.