Hamas is preparing to absorb 700,000 Gazans who left their homes in the north to create facts on the ground before the ceasefire approaches, sources in Gaza told The Press Service of Israel.
“Hamas’ goal now is to flood the northern Gaza Strip with hundreds of thousands of Gazans, and as soon as possible, before the ceasefire agreement collapses or it becomes clear that it will not continue into the next stages,” TPS-IL was told.
The sources said Hamas prioritized the reopening of the Netzarim Corridor to facilitate the return of thousands of displaced Gazans to where their homes once were in the Strip’s northern areas. This explains why Hamas pressured Palestinian Islamic Jihad to agree to release hostage Arbel Yehud, who was supposed to be freed on Saturday. She, along with Agam Berger and a third hostage are due be released on Thursday.
Hamas is also assisted by gangs of thugs who have been passing through vacated areas of northern Gaza, shooting food thieves and looters. Hamas has been spreading videos on social media showing dozens of teenagers who were shot in the legs, purportedly for stealing.
“The goal is to prove to the displaced that there is public order in the northern Gaza Strip and that their property is secure,” a Gaza source explained to TPS-IL.
Hamas is also assisted by the increased stream of humanitarian aid — an average of 600 trucks per day carrying food, water, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian items — since the ceasefire went into effect.
One senior Arab official inside Gaza told TPS-IL that of the first 50 fuel trucks entering Gaza after the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, “all the liquids were secretly pumped into Hamas’ fuel depots.”
He added that many food trucks were diverted to Hamas warehouses with the donated food then sold at exorbitant prices to fund Hamas.
To keep order in northern Gaza, Hamas is recruiting police officers, including boys as young as 15 looking for food coupons and a roof for their families. Hamas is also deploying to northern Gaza 5,500 civilian officials to ensure “absorption baskets” for returning Gazans. These include doctors, nurses as well as tractor drivers to repave roads.
But international donors — particularly from the Arab world — have shown little willingness to finance Gaza’s rehabilitation. One Hamas spokesman based in Qatar admitted, “Not a single dollar will flow to the Gaza Strip as long as Hamas has control over it.”
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad see the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas as a lifeline, but the Arab world also views the PA as part of the problem. TPS-IL reported in December that Arab leaders lobbied then President-elect Donald Trump to take measures to replace Abbas amid the PA’s failed crackdown on Jenin-area terror groups.
One senior Fatah official described the crackdown to TPS-IL in December as a “do-or-die campaign” for Abbas, who was determined to show he was capable of governing Gaza. After the PA’s failed crackdown, Israeli forces raided the camp on Tuesday.
The first phase of the ceasefire is supposed to see a total of 33 Israeli hostages freed over six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The exact number will depend on how many are alive. So far, seven Israelis have been released. Hamas indicated on Monday that eight of the 33 are dead but has offered no proof.
Three more Israelis are to be released on Saturday.
The fate of the remaining 65 hostages will be determined by negotiations to begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire. Critics say the phased approach condemns hostages not freed in the beginning to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 90 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead.
