As regional focus remains on the conflict with Iran, Hamas is subtly regaining influence within Gaza, as evidenced by a surge of social media videos and images. Observers, including an Israeli expert and a political analyst from Gaza, express concerns that these developments could hinder any prospective postwar initiatives for the area.
Michael Milshtein, a prominent analyst with the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, has noted that Hamas has spent the past two and a half weeks not just bolstering its military strength but also asserting its presence in the public domain.
“They are effectively utilizing this time to cement their authority in public life, beyond mere military rebuilding,” Milshtein explained, highlighting actions such as new recruitments, police presence, and public parades in central Gaza. “Hamas intends to maintain its foothold.”
In a recent event, Hamas operatives stood in formation as Palestinians looked on during the transfer of three Israeli hostages to a Red Cross unit in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (Source: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Milshtein further mentioned that locals in Gaza have observed Hamas reinstating governance structures. “Their police are omnipresent,” he noted. “They are also refining their taxation system.” During Ramadan, he added, Hamas was actively inspecting markets and mosques while beginning to develop education systems.
Mkhaimar Abusada, a political analyst from Gaza, concurs that the progression of postwar planning for Gaza has significantly slowed due to the escalating conflict with Iran.
“Everything with regard to Gaza has been put on hold,” Abusada told Fox News Digital. Before the regional war erupted, he said, developments had been “moving in the right direction,” including work around the Board of Peace, the Gaza Technical Committee and discussions tied to a possible international stabilization force.
“Yes, Hamas has taken advantage of the current situation,” Abusada said. “They are not under the pressure that they were before.”
Both analysts pointed to the same broad dynamic: as attention shifted to Iran, pressure on Hamas eased.
Abusada said that before the war, there had been what he described as serious discussions about disarmament, the deployment of an international force and Gaza’s political future. But “the enthusiasm that preceded the war has come down,” he said, adding that Gaza has been pushed to the “back burner.”
“When I talk to Palestinians, they tell me, ‘Listen, we are actually already waiting for the day after the war,’” Milshtein said. He said some expect Netanyahu to become “very indebted to Trump because of the war in Iran, and he will have to accept whatever dictates he has regarding Gaza.”
Terrorists in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah celebrate the ceasefire on Jan. 19, 2025. (TPS-IL)
At the center of that conversation is the prospect of an international stabilization force entering Gaza. But both men suggested Hamas may not see such a force as a threat.
Abusada said Hamas had “welcomed the deployment” of such a force and appears to view it as “restraining the Israeli army” rather than coming in “to disarm” the group. He said the possibility of troops from countries such as Indonesia may make such a deployment appear less threatening to Hamas, which could see it as a buffer against continued Israeli military operations.
Milshtein took that argument further, saying Hamas sees the model less as a peacekeeping mission than as a version of the Hezbollah-UNIFIL arrangement in Lebanon.
“Hamas says, ‘I have no problem, it will be like UNIFIL in Lebanon,’” Milshtein said. “Don’t even dream about starting to chase us, taking our weapons, and entering the tunnels. You need to protect us from Israel as well.”
Hezbollah terrorists are taking part in cross-border raids, part of a large-scale military exercise, in Aaramta, bordering Israel, on May 21, 2023, ahead of the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Abusada said the next phase depends heavily on how the Iran war ends. If the Iranian regime survives and avoids collapse, he said, Hamas will draw encouragement from that outcome.
“If Iran is not defeated, if the Iranian regime is not collapsing, that’s going to be some kind of moral support for Hamas,” he said.
