Hamas likely to remain Gaza's de facto ruler for now as it fills territory's power vacuum

Throughout Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, aid officials working in the territory avoided naming Hamas in conversations they suspected might be intercepted, instead referring to the group as the “de facto authority”.

- Jason Burke

This careful euphemism captured an important truth. Though Hamas was a less obvious presence in the last months of the conflict, it remained the closest the territory had to a ruler.

Its administrative officials continued to be crucial interlocutors for humanitarian organisations. Its armed police units hunted looters, armed gangs, clans who challenged its authority, the more outspoken critics among ordinary Palestinians and militia groups backed by Israel.

This campaign now appears to have become a priority for Hamas - and it requires weapons, which the militant Islamist group is supposed to relinquish if the ceasefire deal reached last week is to harden into anything resembling a durable peace.