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<\/a><\/p>\nMore than two weeks after US President Donald Trump-brokered truce halted nearly two years of relentless bloodshed in Gaza, an uneasy calm hangs in the air. But this fragile peace \u2014 achieved at the cost of countless lives and an uncertain future for Gaza\u2019s people \u2014 may be playing straight into Hamas\u2019s hands. The terror group, often likened to ISIS, is now pushing to legitimise its rule \u2014 just as the Taliban did in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The baseline is: Hamas isn\u2019t fading away \u2014 it\u2019s preparing to rule Gaza.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s Hamas\u2019 Real Goal?<\/p>\n
Hamas leaders reportedly told Arab mediators in Cairo, where the \u2018peace\u2019 was finalised on October 10, that the group \u201cwon\u2019t be erased\u201d and that they are looking forward to having a say in ruling Gaza once the dust settles. In other words, Hamas\u2019s participation in the truce isn\u2019t a sign of surrender for them\u2014 it\u2019s a strategic pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cHamas wants to show that no one can dismantle it,\u201d The Wall Street Journal reported quoting Avner Golov, a former Israeli national-security official. The terror group is \u201cstill the strongest actor in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
By \u2018negotiating\u2019 with Israel with US President Trump in the centre, Hamas is betting it can solidify its legitimacy and reorganise its forces\u2014but all without provoking Israel or a return to war.<\/p>\n
What Is Trump\u2019s Peace Plan vs. Hamas\u2019s Reality<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s 20-point plan, now entering its second phase, calls for a Hamas-free Gaza administered by a multinational force and local civilian councils. This part of the truce, Hamas has pushed back hard, demanding a 10-year truce and refusing to give up its weapons unless there are guarantees that the war will not resume.<\/p>\n
To Hamas, the cease-fire is \u201can agreement, not a surrender,\u201d the report said, quoting Hasan Abu Hanieh, an analyst based in Amman. Despite this \u2018peace on paper,\u2019 Hamas has continued to test Israeli defenses, prompting limited Israeli airstrikes in response.<\/p>\n
In recent days, small Hamas units have carried out attacks and cracked down on rival armed groups inside Gaza. Alleged public executions have been reported across various media outlets. A gruesome video, reportedly shared by Hamas-affiliated channels, showed masked fighters \u2014 some wearing the group\u2019s signature green headbands \u2014 executing blindfolded men in a public square in Gaza City as large crowds watched. It\u2019s a chilling reminder of how the Taliban consolidated power \u2014 through violence in the name of religion, and the ruthless pursuit of control that followed.<\/p>\n
This show of force also underscores the fact that it is Hamas that controls the streets of Gaza. Is peace coming at too high a price?<\/p>\n
US Steps In to Keep the Peace, But For How Long?<\/p>\n
The United States led by President Trump has dispatched its top envoys to keep the ceasefire intact though the signs of crack are already showing up. Special envoy Steve Witkoff, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio all visited Israel this week, calling for restraint. President Trump himself has warned Hamas saying, \u201cWe have a little situation with Hamas\u2026 that will be taken care of very quickly if they don\u2019t straighten it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
A question: Did the Taliban back off despite the fact that a huge chunk of US troops were camped in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan for years? The end result: legitimate Taliban rule.<\/p>\n
What Is Hamas\u2019 Silent Strategy? <\/p>\n
The ceasefire is possibly a cover for the terror group, which has been badly hit by Israel Defence Forces. Behind the scenes, Hamas has been quietly rebuilding its military brigades, appointing new commanders, and repositioning weapons near the \u201cyellow line\u201d \u2014 the zone separating Israeli and Hamas-controlled areas.<\/p>\n
Going by the experts’ view, Hamas as of now are not eager to promote an escalation, but buying time to re-group, strengthen, and revive to rule. Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli intelligence officer, told WSJ that \u201call the things they are doing are causing clashes.\u201d Truce tactics?<\/p>\n
For Hamas, the ceasefire is less a peace deal and more a breathing space \u2014 a chance to restore control over Gaza, reorganise its forces, and reassert its claim as the territory\u2019s true ruler.<\/p>\n
What Is The US Proposal to \u2018Divide\u2019 Gaza And Its Possible Fallout? <\/p>\n
The United States\u2019 proposal to divide Gaza into two separate zones \u2014 one controlled by Israel and the other by the terror group Hamas \u2014 aimed at simplifying the process, is likely to make this more complicated. Under the plan, reconstruction would take place only on the Israeli-controlled side as a stopgap until Hamas can be disarmed and removed from power. The proposal echoes a similar \u201cred zone\u201d in Afghanistan, where the Taliban were supposedly cornered \u2014 yet from that zone, they ultimately expanded control over the entire country. \u2018Red\u2019 flag here?<\/p>\n
Arab mediators, however, have a different concern. Strongly opposing the idea of dividing Gaza, Arab governments warn that the move could create a zone of permanent Israeli control. In the ongoing Israel vs. Hamas struggle, the Palestinians are likely to lose the most. Arab mediators also say they are concerned that Hamas\u2019s leadership is fragmented after years of fighting and that rogue cells may be acting independently of political leaders in Cairo.<\/p>\n
While Palestinians are desperate for peace, Hamas has agreed to Trump\u2019s ceasefire not because it is giving up violence, but because it is playing the long game \u2014 using the time to rebuild, retain power, and ensure that they remain the ones calling the shots in post-war Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Premium More than two weeks after Donald Trump’s truce halted nearly two years of war in Gaza, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8644,65593,65587,21869,54,65579,50,3639,72,65580,65586,51,65577,65591,65582,65578,65576,65590,65585,65584,42,64917,46,65589,33778,11487,65592,11741,65583,47,43,7313,19225,1856,40,38,41,39,627,65581,39097,59996,1032,53018,65588],"class_list":["post-98598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-afghanistan","tag-amman","tag-avner-golov","tag-cairo","tag-donald-trump","tag-donald-trump-peace-deal","tag-gaza","tag-gaza-ceasefire","tag-gaza-city","tag-gaza-division-plan","tag-gazas","tag-hamas","tag-hamas-gaza-rule","tag-hamas-real-goalhamas","tag-hamas-strategy-gaza","tag-hamas-taliban-comparison","tag-hamas-truce","tag-hamass","tag-hamass-realitytrumps","tag-hasan-abu-hanieh","tag-headlines","tag-isis","tag-israel","tag-israel-defence-forces","tag-israel-hamas-conflict","tag-jd-vance","tag-keep-the-peace","tag-marco-rubio","tag-michael-milshtein","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-steve-witkoff","tag-taliban","tag-times-now","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-trump","tag-trump-brokered-truce","tag-trump-gaza-peace-plan","tag-trumps","tag-united-states","tag-wall-street-journal","tag-wsj"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Weeks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/153054055.jpg\" "\\"Weeks")
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