As Gaza begins to transition slowly back to normal with the Rafah crossing open and the Trump peace plan moving ahead, it’s worth considering some of the issues in Gaza that require changing.
The US-backed peace plan for Gaza has several phases and steps. We are now in the second phase and opening Rafah was a key part of this phase.
Replacing the Hamas Health Ministry has not appeared to be a priority, but it should be. This is a key to moving forward in Gaza and enabling transparent information to come out of Gaza.
The Palestinian technical committee that will assist the Board of Peace to run Gaza has also been announced. This is an important step forward. However, the Palestinian technical committee faces many hurdles.
One of the key hurdles is that it doesn’t control any territory. Israel has appeared to be non-plussed by the committee and is not yet empowering it to work in the half of Gaza that Israel controls. On the other hand, the other half of Gaza is still controlled by Hamas.
Gaza still controlled by Hamas
This creates a problematic catch-22. While Gaza is supposed to be returning to normal, the presence of Hamas will continue to work against that normality.
Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007 when it carried out a coup against the Palestinian Authority. That coup forced many people linked to the Palestinian Fatah movement to flee Gaza. It also led to Hamas taking over many of the institutions there. This essentially led Hamas to run the police and Health Ministry and other key institutions.
Stripping these civil institutions of their professionalism hollowed them out and led to them becoming arms of Hamas. This situation has dominated Gaza now for more than a generation.
Essentially, 20 years have been lost in Gaza as Hamas was able to pervert institutions and use them to its benefit, notably during the endless wars it carried out against Israel.
A key example of this is the problematic way in which Hamas infiltrated health authorities in Gaza. From the Health Ministry in Gaza to NGOs and hospitals, Hamas appears to have seen the health sector as a strategic node of control.
Every terrorist group or military has command and control and uses various nodes in a network to exercise control. For Hamas, control is not just about tunnels and missiles. It is also about controlling civilians and infiltrating civilian institutions.
For the terror group, the propaganda war is as important as the real war. Using schools or areas where people shelter for cover is a key part of the Hamas strategy.
Throughout the war, one of the challenges has always been trying to get reliable information from Gaza.
There is always a dispute about the information that comes from the Health Ministry in Gaza. Is it correct information, or is it false? Is it information put out by Hamas or by legitimate health authorities? What about the claims that Hamas members, even high ranking officers, have infiltrated health institutions?
All of these issues have been a feature of the war in Gaza. As the war is now in a ceasefire phase and moving toward more normalcy there, the opportunity may present itself to replace the Gaza Health Ministry. This would enable the technocrats to have their own data and control the ministry, rather than Hamas.
This would go a long way toward enabling better information to come out of Gaza. In the case of clashes in the future, it would also enable better details on health affairs. With half of the area now controlled by the IDF and reports indicating that some small anti-Hamas militias operate in Gaza, it may be possible to also have a carve out for a nascent new health authority.