|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/08/03/hamass-disarmament-deal-is-not-what-it-seems/
Hamas's "Disarmament" Deal Is Not What It Seems
(Spiked-UK) Maj. (ret.) Andrew Fox - Last week, President Trump announced that the Board of Peace, set up by the White House last year, had secured Hamas's agreement to a "roadmap" for its "complete disarmament." Within hours, Hamas negotiator Ghazi Hamad told the Wall Street Journal, "We didn't say disarmament, we didn't say handing over the weapons." Western powers continue to misunderstand Hamas. They treat it as a stack of rifles with a political office attached. But it's far more than an armed force. It ruled Gaza for almost two decades and infested its civil machinery. It shaped schooling through the education bureaucracy. The health sector operated under its government, while Hamas-run courts enforced its authority. Municipal employees and emergency committees kept its presence visible. Collecting the weapons leaves Hamas's human infrastructure in place. Hamas has sought to carry over 40,000 civil servants and security personnel into the new technocratic order. Roughly 10,000 belong to the Hamas-run police. A new nameplate on a ministry changes little if the same officials control salaries and local permits, with loyal policemen on the streets. Hamas can surrender the administrative title while retaining its governance networks. Verification of Hamas's surrendering of weapons is going to be nigh-on impossible. No audited inventory exists for an arsenal dispersed across ruins and private buildings. Inspectors must prove the absence of hidden rifles and explosives across a dense urban landscape designed to frustrate surveillance. Hamas can hand over expendable weapons and reveal tunnels Israel already knows about, while continuing to conceal those Israel is unaware of. The Board of Peace's roadmap offers Hamas an opportunity. Surrender enough metal to secure Israeli withdrawal, then protect the organization embedded within Gaza's new administration. Rearmament can wait until scrutiny fades. If its weapons are left inside Gaza, they will be waiting, too. The writer, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, served for 16 years in the British Army.