Hamas dissolves Gaza government after 20 years, paving way for US-backed technocratic committee

Hamas dissolves emergency committee

Hamas officially dissolved its Government Emergency Committee on Monday, the body that has run Gaza since the October 2023 attacks. Mohammed al-Farra, the committee's chairman, resigned, and the group said the step was taken to facilitate a transition to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a US-backed body of Palestinian technocrats created under President Donald Trump's post-war plan.

The head of the government emergency committee, Mohammed al-Farra, has officially submitted his resignation. He also decided to dissolve the committee to facilitate the administrative and governmental transition to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

The Hamas-run ministries and their roughly 40,000 to 50,000 public employees will remain in place to avoid an administrative vacuum, and the Interior Ministry will continue to handle security in the areas still under Hamas control.

Transition to technocrats

Ali Shaath, the Cairo-based head of the 15-member NCAG, said the committee is ready to assume responsibility as soon as the necessary conditions are met: a single authority, a single legal framework, and a monopoly on armed force. The NCAG has been blocked from entering Gaza by Israel since its creation in January, adding uncertainty to the handover timeline.

Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace official overseeing implementation of the Trump plan, called the announcement a step forward but stressed that the Roadmap, a 15-point document negotiated with Palestinian factions and mediated by Egypt, remains the bridge between declarations and action.

Today's announcement in Gaza underscores the importance of successfully completing the Roadmap discussions, which represent the bridge between declarations and implementation.

Security and disarmament remain unresolved

The Roadmap's article six demands that the monopoly on weapons rest solely with the NCAG. Hamas made no promise to disarm unilaterally, insisting that Israel must first halt attacks in Gaza and withdraw its forces. On Monday, medics reported that an Israeli strike killed five people in the enclave, underscoring the fragility of the October 2025 ceasefire.

Ultimately, our assessment will be guided by actions, not promises, to meet the critical needs of the people of Gaza.

Reactions: caution and scepticism

Israel did not issue an official comment, but some Israeli media dismissed the move as a symbolic trick or an attempt to create a "Hezbollah model" in Gaza. Analysts quoted by The Guardian said the announcement was largely a gambit to revive the stalled peace process and counter Israeli proposals to confine relief and reconstruction to purpose-built villages in the 60% of Gaza under direct Israeli military control.

Public sector workers, through their union Al Risala, demanded that their professional and economic rights be safeguarded during the transition. Union head Jalil Hamada said the employees had worked under exceptional and difficult circumstances and were ready to serve under the NCAG.

Humanitarian backdrop

Gaza remains in ruins more than two and a half years after the conflict triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 raids. Around 2.1 million people live in the enclave, with only about 40% of the territory still under Hamas administration; the rest is occupied by the Israeli military. The humanitarian crisis continues, and reconstruction has been blocked by the political deadlock.