Published on 6/30/2026
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Last update: 23:50 (Mecca time)
While attention turns to Cairo, where a delegation from the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas is trying to complete diplomatic tracks with the mediators, details of the most dangerous stage in the administration of the Gaza Strip are being cooked in closed rooms, in the Cypriot city of Ayia Napa.
Behind a veil of secrecy and secrecy, representatives of the US-led peace council, headed by prominent international figures such as Nikolai Mladenov and Tony Blair, are gathering to draw a road map aimed at isolating Hamas from its population and resources, through what is known as “Article 17” of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza. Article 17 effectively paves the way for what might be called “temporary reconstruction” in areas free of Hamas.
In these areas, senior officials promise that concrete will not be poured for the reconstruction of Gaza, but rather convoys will be placed and medical and other services will be provided for the benefit of the residents who will settle there.
Article 17 stipulates that if Hamas delays or rejects the proposal, the provisions of the plan, including expanded humanitarian relief operations, will be implemented in specific areas in the Strip and not the entire Strip, claiming that the areas in which the plan will be implemented are not controlled by Hamas.
Pliers against Hamas
A report from the Israeli newspaper “Israel Hayom” states that the Peace Council is scheduled to begin within weeks a pilot project in the “Tel Sultan” area near Rafah.
The plan aims to establish humanitarian shelter complexes for “unarmed” civilians, under the supervision of a multinational force that will be stationed in “Camp Amitai” on the border.
But what is controversial is that these forces will be equipped with white weapons only to maintain order, while the Israeli army will strengthen its presence in the areas behind the yellow line.
This trend, which military analysts described as a “pincer movement,” seeks to strip Hamas of its nurturing environment. While the army controls the territory, the Peace Council assumes control of the population and resources, ultimately leaving the movement “without people, land, and resources,” and this will be how it will be eliminated.
In this way, in a pincer movement, the army will continue to consolidate its control over the Gaza Strip, seizing more Hamas-controlled territory, while the peace council will seize the population from it.
According to Brigadier General (res.) Erez Weiner, the chief Israeli security expert and former head of the planning team in the Southern Command, implementing Article 17 of the Trump Agreement is the best option to “defeat a terrorist organization” in light of the American restrictions that currently prevent involvement in a comprehensive war.
An experiment in danger of failure?
On the other side of the Israeli positions, the “Israel Cover Forum” stands out as a fierce opponent of these steps, according to what was reported in Israel Hayom, warning that implementing Article 17 of the Trump Agreement represents a “security gamble” and a major strategic risk.
The Forum, which represents the residents of the settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip, believes that starting any “reconstruction” operations, even if they are temporary and represented by the installation of convoys and caravans, before achieving “the complete and complete military and political defeat of the Hamas movement.”
The Forum considered that this would be a strategic mistake that would lead to adverse results. It will provide the movement with a golden opportunity to catch its breath, renew its tunnel networks, and continue smuggling operations and recruiting elements.
The Forum confirms that previous “awareness engineering” experiments that attempted to isolate the residents of Gaza from Hamas have failed, considering that any international or reconstruction movement within the borders of the Strip as long as the Hamas regime remains in place will only lead to strengthening the movement and increasing its determination, which will keep the residents of the enclave under a permanent and sustainable security threat.
Two contradictory paths
In Cyprus, secret meetings focus on operational aspects such as training a Palestinian police force in Egypt and forming a technocratic committee to manage day-to-day affairs.
However, as Mohammed Al-Madhoun, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Cyprus, revealed, this path faces two major obstacles:
- Funding crisis: Donors backed away from paying pledges worth $17 billion due to regional tensions with Iran.
- Israeli veto: The Peace Council refuses the entry of the “Technocratic Committee” into Gaza as long as Hamas is not completely disarmed, for fear of repeating the Hezbollah model in Lebanon.
On the other hand, the resistance is betting on a unified Arab and Islamic position that will put pressure on Washington in its current discussions in Cairo.
Palestinian political analyst Ahmed Al-Tanani explains that Hamas is aware of the Israeli attempts to evade the broad provisions of US President Donald Trump’s agreement, and demands that the mediators be true guarantors to prevent these humanitarian projects from turning into a “cover for genocide” or a drain on Palestinian society.
Israeli affairs expert Muhammad Hilsa believes that the gap between the two parties is still vast. Israel insists on disarming even military uniforms, a demand that Hamas cannot accept.
Hilsa links this stubbornness to the Israeli interior; Netanyahu sees any concession as “political and electoral murder” in light of the approaching election season, which makes the state of stalemate the dominant feature of this file.
