n recent weeks, more and more reports and intelligence assessments have been published in Israel regarding a “renewed military strengthening” of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The message is clear: Hamas is rebuilding its power, reorganizing, gathering weapons, and preparing itself for the next confrontation. The Israeli public is being left with the impression that only another military operation can prevent the “return of the threat.”

But behind this campaign lies a far more complex reality – and perhaps also a deliberate attempt to prepare Israeli and international public opinion for the renewal of the war.

The reality in Gaza today is very far from the image of a flourishing and powerful terrorist organization. Gaza is devastated, the population exhausted, and the civilian system has almost completely collapsed. Hamas itself is also experiencing profound distress. According to many sources inside Gaza, Hamas is suffering from an extremely severe financial crisis. It has no regular ability to pay salaries – neither to its fighters nor to employees of the civilian administration. The public in Gaza is exhausted from the war, and many oppose the continuation of Hamas rule in its current form.

And yet Hamas continues to be the controlling force in those parts of Gaza where the Palestinian population remains. Why? Not because Hamas currently enjoys broad public legitimacy, but because Israel refuses to allow the entry of the Palestinian technocratic committee (NCAG) that was intended to assume civilian administration of the Strip.

Five months after the end of the war, this committee has still not........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)