Hamas, other groups agree to hand Gaza to technocrat committee

CAIRO: The main Palestinian factions, including Hamas, said Friday they had agreed that an independent committee of technocrats would take over the running of post-war Gaza.

During a meeting in Cairo, according to a joint statement published on the Hamas website, the groups agreed to hand “over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a temporary Palestinian committee composed of independent ‘technocrats’.

It said the committee would “manage the affairs of life and basic services in cooperation with Arab brothers and international institutions”.

The statement also said the factions had agreed to work on unifying a common position “to confront the challenges facing the Palestinian cause”.

TEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL STABILIZATION FORCE

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope of soon putting together the international force to police the ceasefire in Gaza.

He, however, said Israel had to be at ease with the nations contributing to a future international security force in Gaza, following reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed Turkish involvement.

Rubio was talking about the temporary international stabilization force envisaged under Gaza peace plan. Several countries are supposed to contribute to the force with an aim to to provide security, train Palestinian police, and oversee the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip.

REVITALISING PLO

Meanwhile, the Palestinian factions in the statement called for a meeting of all forces and factions to “agree on a national strategy and to revitalise the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people”.

Hamas is not part of the PLO, which is dominated by its longtime rival Fatah.

An informed source told AFP on Thursday that delegations from Hamas and Fatah met in Cairo to discuss the second phase of a US-backed ceasefire plan in Gaza.

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The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that both sides agreed to “continue meetings in the coming period and to work on organising the Palestinian internal front in the face of the challenges posed by the Israeli government”.

Alongside the Hamas-Fatah talks, Egypt’s intelligence chief Hassan Rashad met senior officials from key Palestinian factions.

They included Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, as well as the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — both factions within the PLO.

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Hamas and Fatah have a history of deep political rivalry, which flared into fighting for a time after a 2006 election, and which has hindered efforts at Palestinian national unity.

In December 2024, they agreed to create a committee to jointly administer post-war Gaza. The agreement was criticised, particularly by members of Fatah.

Hamas, which seized power in the territory in 2007, has already made it clear that it does not wish to govern the post-war territory, but has pushed back against the insistence that it disarm its fighters.