Israel claims Hamas is rebuilding ahead of elections ... and preparing to resume full-scale war

[Financial News] A claim has emerged that Hamas, the Palestinian armed faction that entered a “first-phase ceasefire” with Israel last October, is rebuilding its strength.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on the 22nd (local time) that the Israeli government had recently passed intelligence of this nature to the United States. According to the newspaper, senior Israeli officials recently told the U.S. and Israeli governments that Hamas was unwilling to cooperate with any international organization and that the only way to disarm the group was through military force. They also reported that Hamas had no intention of disarming and was reinforcing its forces in the Gaza Strip in preparation for a resumption of full-scale war with Israel. Haaretz said the Israeli military assessed that Hamas had restored its network of underground tunnels and restocked weapons in areas under its control in the Gaza Strip. Israeli security officials also concluded that Hamas had effectively regained its governing authority in the Gaza Strip and that no force there was currently capable of challenging it.
Earlier, the U.S.-based Middle East news outlet Al-Monitor reported on the 7th that Hamas remained active in the Gaza Strip and had not begun disarming, a condition of the ceasefire agreement. According to Israeli security sources, about 30,000 Hamas militants are estimated to be currently active. That is similar to the number of fighters Hamas had before it attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel, which waged war in the Gaza Strip for about three years, entered a first-phase ceasefire with Hamas last October, mediated by the United States. In January, U.S. President Donald Trump organized an international body called the Board of Peace to bring the Gaza war to an end. In an announcement on July 30, Trump claimed that “the Board of Peace has reached a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all armed groups in the Gaza Strip.” The following day, the Board of Peace released a 15-point plan for implementing the ceasefire agreement. Under the plan, Hamas agreed to disarm over the next six to eight months by handing over all its weapons in stages to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), an organization under the Board of Peace. At the same time, Israeli forces are to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
However, neither side has been able to move into the “second-phase ceasefire,” which includes disarmament and withdrawal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been in power for 19 years, is set to face a general election on the 27th and is seeking an eighth term as prime minister. Trump, too, faces midterm elections on November 3.
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