Hamas dissolves Gaza’s governing body

“The chairman of the government’s Emergency Committee, Mr. Mohammed al-Farra, submitted his resignation,” Ismail al-Thawabta, head of Hamas’s media agency, said today. “He also decided to dissolve this committee to promote the process of administrative and governmental transfer to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).”

The Emergency Committee is the body established by Hamas to be in charge of running the Gaza Strip since the group took control of the strip of land from the rival Fatah movement in 2007.

“Hamas will no longer be responsible for managing the Gaza Strip, in order to remove any excuse for the opposing forces, who are continuing their brutal war,” said Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem. “We hope NCAG will quickly participate in the takeover and Hamas affirms its readiness to hand over all government responsibilities to the committee to ensure the agency operates effectively.”

A Hamas official previously said the group informed other Palestinian factions about the decision at a recent meeting in Cairo, Egypt. “All factions welcomed the decision from Hamas, considering it a serious step to help NCAG take on a management role,” he said.

Since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect in Gaza last October, Hamas has repeatedly announced its readiness to withdraw from running the strip of land, but the bottleneck of the group’s disarmament has not yet been resolved.

NCAG is a committee headed by Palestinian technocrat Ali Shaath, established by the Peace Committee, an initiative initiated by US President Donald Trump when he brokered a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in October 2025.

The dissolution of the Hamas administration paves the way for NCAG to take over civilian governance responsibilities in Gaza. NCAG has set up headquarters outside the Gaza Strip for months, as Israel opposes committee members entering the enclave.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions have held several rounds of talks in Cairo with intermediaries to narrow disagreements, especially over the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza.

In the first phase, Hamas agreed to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The transition to phase two, which would require Hamas to disarm and Israeli troops to gradually withdraw from Gaza, remains stalled.

Israeli forces have expanded their presence in Gaza in recent months, taking control of nearly 70% of the strip. As for Hamas, they demand the establishment of a Palestinian government before considering disarmament.

The issue of managing Gaza in the post-war period remains one of the main problems in negotiations to implement phase two of the ceasefire. Israel rejects any possibility of Hamas returning to power, but also refuses to let the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority take over directly.