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** How Hamas Is Exploiting the Trump Plan to Maintain Control of Gaza ([link removed])
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • November 3, 2025 at 5:00 am
* For Hamas, US President Donald J. Trump's peace plan, announced in early October, is evidently nothing but a temporary ceasefire, or hudna, that should be exploited to ensure that the terror group, with the help of Qatar and Turkey, expands its political and military control over the Gaza Strip.
* The terror group, however, has not been facing any difficulty in hunting down Palestinians suspected of "collaboration" with Israel or those who dared to criticize Hamas during the war. Hamas, in addition, is not in a hurry because it has a serious problem with phase two of the Trump plan, which requires the terror group to lay down and decommission its weapons.
* What we are witnessing is a calculated delay that aims to buy time and exhaust the US administration until Trump abandons the numerous ultimatums he has issued to the terror group. The foot-dragging aims to allow Hamas to reassert control over the Gaza Strip. According to some reports, Hamas has recruited up to 7,000 new fighters....
* Hamas's actions and media interviews given by its officials since the beginning of the ceasefire show that the terror group has no intention of disarming or relinquishing security control over the Gaza Strip.
* Further evidence of Hamas's total disregard for the Trump plan and ongoing effort to reassert control over the Gaza Strip was provided on November 1 by the US Central Command (CENTCOM): " On Oct. 31, the U.S.-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) observed suspected Hamas operatives looting an aid truck traveling as part of a humanitarian convoy delivering needed assistance from international partners to Gazans in northern Khan Younis. The coordination center was alerted through video surveillance from a U.S. MQ-9 aerial drone flying overhead to monitor implementation of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Operatives attacked the driver and stole the aid and truck... The driver's current status is unknown."
* "There is no lasting stability or peace until Hamas is removed from Gaza, a step that will require the use of force against this fascist militia." — Ahmed Alkhatib, former Gaza native and respected political analyst, X.com, November 1, 2025.
* Even if we reach phase two of the Trump plan, Hamas will undoubtedly try to hoodwink everyone, including the Trump administration. Hamas, for instance, might hand over some of its assault rifles to a third party, but keep most of its tunnels and arsenal of weapons, including rockets and explosive devices. It is also possible that Hamas might try to incorporate its members into a new security force that would be deployed in the Gaza Strip, under the pretext that they are not affiliated with the terror group.
* It is time for the Trump administration and the international community to realize that what we are currently witnessing is an attempt to rebrand and reproduce Hamas to ensure its continued control of the Gaza Strip. Hamas should not only be removed from power, but from the entire political, economic, social and military arena.

It is almost a month since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect in the Gaza Strip, and Hamas is taking advantage of the lull in the fighting to entrench itself by rearming, regrouping, recruiting new fighters, and tightening its grip on areas under its control. Pictured: Hamas terrorists stand in front of a vehicle belonging to the International Red Cross (ICRC), in Gaza City on November 2, 2025. (Photo by Omar Al-Qataa/AFP via Getty Images)

It is almost a month since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect in the Gaza Strip, and Hamas is taking advantage of the lull in the fighting to entrench itself by rearming, regrouping, recruiting new fighters, and tightening its grip on areas under its control.

For Hamas, US President Donald J. Trump's peace plan, announced in early October, is evidently nothing but a temporary ceasefire, or hudna, that should be exploited to ensure that the terror group, with the help of Qatar and Turkey, expands its political and military control over the Gaza Strip. This is precisely what Hamas has done for the past two decades. After each round of fighting with Israel ended in a ceasefire, the terror group would exploit the period of calm to restock and rebuild its military capabilities, eventually enabling it to launch its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel's southern communities.

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