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Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/how-hamas-plans-to-remain-armed-even-after-israel-withdraws/
How Hamas Plans to Remain Armed
(Israel Hayom) Prof. Eyal Zisser - Anyone wondering where Hamas is really headed received a clear answer a month ago with the election of Khalil al-Hayya as the organization's leader. Al-Hayya is among the most hard-line of the senior Hamas leaders who remain, holds views close to those of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and has close ties to Iran. The Board of Peace (BoP) was launched in Jan. 2026 to establish a Palestinian local administration backed by an international force, demilitarize Gaza, and lead its reconstruction. The BoP has now published a roadmap that calls for an end to Israeli military operations in Gaza and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces. Hamas is prepared to allow a Palestinian administration in Gaza to take care of sewage and garbage collection, provide food and health services to the local population, and deploy traffic police. But Hamas has no intention of giving up its weapons and relinquishing its grip on the ground. Its model is Hizbullah in Lebanon. Hamas cannot afford to disarm. The moment it gives up its weapons, its Palestinian rivals, and there are many of them, could launch a bloody campaign of revenge against Hamas members for everything the terrorist organization has done to them during its two decades of rule in Gaza. Hamas would be willing to place its heavy weapons, assuming it still has many left, into storage in Gaza. But it would not surrender its rifles, rocket launchers, and anti-tank missiles. Those weapons would be kept for the right moment, even if Hamas has to wait months or years. This ticking time bomb must be defused, sooner rather than later, before facts are established on the ground, whether by our friends or by our enemies. The writer is a lecturer in the Middle East History Department at Tel Aviv University.