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Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22263/hamas-secret-plan-to-maintain-control-of-gaza
Hamas's Secret Plan to Maintain Control of Gaza
(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - More than four months after the ceasefire in Gaza went into effect, Hamas has still not laid down its weapons. Hamas, in fact, is working hard to rearm, regroup and reassert its control over areas of Gaza from which the Israel Defense Forces have withdrawn. According to Israeli security sources: "Hamas recently strengthened its control over Gaza by stealing humanitarian aid and selling it to local residents, recruiting young men in mosques, collecting taxes, and kidnapping and torturing anyone who dares to speak out against the terror group." Hamas is seeking to incorporate its 10,000 police officers into a new U.S.-backed Palestinian administration, Palestinian sources told Reuters. There can be no peace, security or stability in Gaza if the same terrorists who murdered, tortured, and mutilated thousands of Israelis and foreign nationals on Oct. 7 are given new uniforms, rearmed and allowed to serve as a paramilitary force. There also can be no peace, security, or stability in Gaza so long as Hamas is permitted to function as a shadow government. With countries such as Qatar, Turkey and Pakistan sitting on Trump's Board of Peace, it is hard to see how Hamas could ever be forced to lay down its weapons and give up control of Gaza. These countries - longtime sponsors and funders of Hamas - will never take part in any effort to disarm Hamas or remove it from power.