Hamas has regained control of the Gaza Strip, with the militant group recently deploying thousands of its forces back onto the streets to reassert its authority, significantly undermining Israel’s objectives in the ongoing conflict.

Following the latest ceasefire agreement, Hamas resumed its role in maintaining law and order in Gaza, after Israel failed to find a replacement force. The group’s return to power was starkly visible on Sunday, when Hamas members and their supporters paraded through Gaza City’s Saraya Square during the first day of the ceasefire. They waved victory signs and cheered, surrounding Red Cross vehicles carrying three freed Israeli hostages.

Gershon Baskin, the Middle East director for the International Communities Organization, criticized the public display of Hamas soldiers in broad daylight, calling it a blow to the progress made over the past 15 months of Israeli military operations. “The Hamas presence on the ground, armed, is a slap in the face to the Israeli government and army,” Baskin told the Wall Street Journal. “It highlights that Israel’s goals for the war were never achievable.”

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has maintained that the dismantling of Hamas must be part of any lasting peace agreement.

To achieve this, Israel’s military has spent months targeting and eliminating the upper echelons of Hamas leadership. Throughout the conflict, the United States has urged Israel to back the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to reclaim control of Gaza from Hamas, following the PA’s ousting by the militants in 2006. In his final days as Secretary of State, Antony Blinken even proposed a plan for the PA to return to Gaza and oversee reconstruction in Hamas’ place.

However, Netanyahu has consistently rejected any proposals involving the Palestinian Authority taking over Gaza. With no alternative governance structure in place, Hamas has maintained its grip on power, and its police force is now responsible for restoring order as over 1 million refugees return to their devastated neighborhoods.

Hamas’ police are expected to crack down on local gangs that have taken control of several areas and looted humanitarian aid shipments. While these police forces are armed, they are prohibited from engaging with Israeli soldiers stationed along the Gaza border’s buffer zone.

With Hamas still in charge, Israel has effectively failed in achieving its primary war goal of dismantling the group and ensuring Gaza no longer poses a threat to the state of Israel after the massacre on October 7, 2023. Despite Israel’s claim of having killed over 17,000 Hamas fighters—about 70% of its forces—U.S. officials estimate that Hamas has nearly fully recovered from its losses.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar acknowledged that Israel has not yet achieved its objective of dismantling Hamas, but firmly stated that the terror group cannot remain in control. “There is no future of peace, stability and security for both sides if Hamas stays in power,” Saar said in a statement.

{Matzav.com}