Hamas announced yesterday it is dissolving its formal government over Gaza, the “emergency committee.” Hamas claims this is in preparation for a handover of power to the United States-backed Board of Peace.

• But it could be a ruse aimed at getting Donald Trump to pressure Israel to stand down.

Hamas has governed Gaza since 2007, when it violently wrested control from the Palestinian Authority.

• Israel, in its counteroffensive from 2023 through last October’s ceasefire, gained control of over 50 percent of Gaza—yet Hamas’s government has retained control in several slivers of territory. The ceasefire obligated Hamas to lay down its weapons. Hamas has thus far refused to do so.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in May a renewed offensive in Gaza. Israel claims it now controls about 70 percent of Gaza.

U.S. President Donald Trump previously opposed Israel defeating Hamas once and for all. But the lack of attention both from the media and from the White House suggests President Trump is tacitly approving Israel’s offensive and may have run out of patience with Hamas’s stall tactics.

• Thus, Hamas’s announcement could be aimed at showing Trump their commitment to the ceasefire.

But is anything actually changing? Signs say no:

• Hamas announced all its civil servants would continue providing services and that they are ready to be grafted into a new government sponsored by the Board of Peace. This implies the civil service is still getting paid by Hamas.
• A senior Palestinian official in the West Bank told the Jerusalem Post: “Hamas hasn’t declared an end to its rule in the Gaza Strip” by dissolving the emergency committee. Rather, “they immediately declared that another temporary governing body would run the Strip and appointed someone to head it.”

When President Trump announced the ceasefire last year, he claimed it was the start of “eternal peace in the Middle East.” Hamas may claim it is on board with the peace process. It isn’t. And it isn’t going away anytime soon.