Two weeks into the U.S.-brokered cease-fire in Gaza, Hamas is making clear it has no intention of fading from the scene — a challenge to the Trump administration’s effort to secure lasting peace and remove a U.S.-designated terrorist group from power.
Despite President Trump’s 20-point peace plan calling for Hamas to relinquish authority “in any form,” the militant organization is working aggressively to shape the postwar landscape.
Hamas leaders are telling Arab mediators in Cairo that the group “won’t be erased” and expects to retain a role in governing Gaza, according to those mediators. The demand directly conflicts with the current U.S. goal: creating a Hamas-free security and administrative structure for the enclave.
At the same time, Hamas has stirred unrest on multiple fronts. It has probed Israeli defenses, prompting Israeli airstrikes and heightening concerns that the cease-fire could unravel. It has also unleashed a violent campaign against rival Palestinian factions, a show of force designed to demonstrate — to Gazans and the world — that it remains the dominant authority on the ground.
“Hamas wants to show that no one can dismantle it and it’s the strongest actor in Gaza,” said Avner Golov, a former Israeli national-security official and now vice president at MIND Israel.
The group’s strategy appears to rest on a calculation that it can act from a position of strength without crossing the line that would trigger a return to war. It insists that disarming — a key requirement of Trump’s peace framework — is not on the table unless it receives firm assurances that the conflict has actually ended. Mediators say Hamas is pushing for a 10-year cease-fire to pave the way for talks about Gaza’s longer-term future.
Its pressure tactics have been unmistakable. Hamas has launched attacks through small militant cells over the past week while continuing efforts to crush rival armed factions inside Gaza. Meanwhile, the group accuses Israel of violating the Trump agreement by restricting construction equipment and personnel needed to search for the bodies of hostages still believed to be buried beneath rubble.
Hasan Abu Hanieh, an independent expert on Islamist groups in Amman, said the message is deliberate: Hamas intends to make clear that the cease-fire comes with enforcement costs. “For Hamas, the cease-fire is an agreement, not a surrender,” he said.
In an interview on an Egyptian state-affiliated channel Monday, Hamas chief Khalil Al-Hayya claimed the group is committed to the truce. “We are determined that this agreement will hold,” he said. “It will last, because we want it to last.”
The Trump administration, recognizing a pivotal moment, has dispatched senior officials to Israel to prevent a renewed outbreak of hostilities. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump adviser Jared Kushner arrived alongside Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined later in the week. Rubio stressed the importance of maintaining calm: “It’s important, particularly in the next couple of weeks, that we keep the cease-fire together.”
But events on the ground reflect the volatility of the situation. On Sunday, Israel reported new Hamas attacks — including one near Rafah that left two Israeli soldiers dead. In response, the Israeli military struck back with roughly 120 munitions targeting Hamas tunnels, weapons depots and other infrastructure.
With the final living hostages released and a cease-fire still holding, the peace process is entering its most delicate phase. But Hamas’s refusal to step aside — and its willingness to use force — underscores the core challenge confronting the Trump plan: peace depends on removing a militant organization that is determined not to go anywhere.
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