Jerusalem Post / Middle East Hamas using power vacuum to regain control of Gaza, security establishment fears An official explained that a major problem has arisen due to on-the-ground dynamics. “Hamas is dragging its feet, and the US is finding it difficult to apply leverage on it,” he noted. Follow us on Google Gunmen stand guard at the funeral of Marwan Issa, a senior Hamas deputy military commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the conflict between Israel and Hamas, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip, February 7, 2025. (photo credit: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed) By AMIR BOHBOT JUNE 5, 2026 10:19 Security officials have warned that Hamas is exploiting the governance vacuum in Gaza to re-establish its power, while the IDF is preoccupied with the northern front in Lebanon, Walla learned on Friday.
Officials predict that the Israeli government will actively oppose the Palestinian technocratic government’s initiatives in the strip, out of anticipation that Hamas will ultimately re-establish control over key power centers.
Speaking in a closed forum, one security official summarized Israel’s current strategic deadlock, warning that “it is impossible to take a step forward” under the current conditions without “increasing the threats” to the country.
Working alongside Board of Peace Director-General Nickolay Mladenov, the technocratic government is promoting a “Rafah First” initiative.
The strategy aims to transform Rafah into a demilitarized, terror-free zone, allowing for the resettlement of a population that has undergone security vetting to ensure no traces of Hamas leak through.
Palestinian relatives and friends bid farewell to Fouad Abu Mohsen, a member of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, during his funeral after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the al-Mawasi area west of Rafah, April 1, 2026. (credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90) Talk over rehabilitating Gaza’s infrastructure ongoing “I am aware that there is talk about rehabilitating the Gaza Strip, and infrastructure, roads, and building tenders have gone out to contractors. Trump’s original plan speaks of Rafah first. Meaning that, even then, they designated Rafah as the first location, where everything would begin,” a defense official said.
“But this will happen only after we have verified that the area is completely demilitarized and completely cleared of any weaponry. Then rehabilitation will begin there, and slowly the population will move, and that is how we will clear more and more areas,” they added.
The official explained that a major problem has arisen due to on-the-ground dynamics. “Hamas is dragging its feet, and the US is finding it difficult to apply leverage on it,” he noted.
According to him, following this difficulty, they are starting to talk about rehabilitating Rafah and transferring the population without the essential condition of demilitarizing the Strip and dismantling Hamas of its weapons.
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