Hamas ready to hand over power in Gaza, Turkey says

Ministers from Arab and Muslim nations gather in Istanbul to advance Gaza ceasefire

Hamas is ready to hand over control of Gaza to a Palestinian committee, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after a meeting of ministers from Arab and Muslim nations seeking to advance the fragile ceasefire.

Turkey has been in close contact with Hamas in recent weeks and, alongside Egypt, used its close ties with the group to nudge its leaders into accepting the deal early last month. The 20-point ceasefire plan includes clauses on Hamas and other Palestinian factions agreeing to play no future role in governing Gaza and to laying down their arms – a point that they have been reticent to confirm.

"Hamas is ready to hand governance of Gaza to a committee consisting of Palestinians," Mr Fidan said at a press conference in Istanbul. "As long as the agreement protects the rights of the Palestinian people, it will be resilient over time against provocations."

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Mr Fidan's remarks indicate that Turkey and Qatar – two of Hamas's closest interlocutors – have an understanding that the Palestinian group will make way for others to control Gaza.

Last week, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman said Hamas was willing to cede control of Gaza but had yet to acknowledge the need to disarm.

Mr Fidan's comments came after he hosted a closed-door meeting of senior officials from the UAE, Indonesia, Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan to discuss how to advance implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement made just over three weeks ago. Officials from the same countries were among those who met US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September to flesh out the deal’s contours.

Egypt was not represented at Monday’s meeting in Istanbul but Turkey made the “necessary co-ordination” with Cairo in advance of the talks, a Turkish official said.

Khalifa Al Marar, Minister of State, represented the UAE at the Istanbul meeting, also attended by Qatari Minister of State Sultan Al Muraikhi, and foreign ministers Ishaq Dar of Pakistan, Prince Faisal bin Farhan of Saudi Arabia, Hakan Fidan of Turkey, Ayman Safadi of Jordan and Sugiono of Indonesia. EPA

On Saturday, Mr Fidan separately met members of Hamas’s political bureau in Istanbul to discuss the status of the ceasefire in Gaza and the need for humanitarian aid in the strip, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said.

While the specifics of governing Gaza’s are still to be worked out, “what we support in principles is that Palestine must be administered by Palestinians and their security must be ensured by Palestinians,” Mr Fidan said.

The form of an international stabilisation force (ISF) to provide support for Gaza’s future security is still taking shape, the Turkish Foreign Minister said.

Participating countries want a UN Security Council resolution to define its task and mandate, and will use this as a basis for deciding whether to send troops to contribute.

“The ISF definition and its mandate, what it will be – based on that, countries will make their decisions,” Mr Fidan said. “We are ready to make every kind of sacrifice but, as I expressed, the documents and the frame that will come out should be of a nature that we can also support.”

He did not provide a timetable for the UN resolution but warned that its clauses should not lead to issues down the line.

“In the resolution of the Palestinian issue, any step that is taken today, as it resolves a problem today, should not create structural grounds for any problems in the future," Mr Fidan said. "We are very careful on this."

An aid convoy arriving in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. AP

Sources previously told The National that the force would consist of around 4,000 troops from Egypt, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Indonesia. Israel has said it opposes Turkey’s participation because of its support for Hamas and harsh anti-Israeli rhetoric since the attacks and start of the Gaza conflict on October 7, 2023.

Israel and Hamas have traded accusations of breaches of the ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10. Israel has accused Hamas of attacking its forces in Gaza and delaying the return of dead hostages’ remains. The Palestinian group denies attacking Israeli troops and officials in the enclave say at least 236 Gazans have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire begun.

In Istanbul, Mr Fidan said Israel was “regularly breaching the ceasefire” in continuing to kill Palestinians and failing to allow sufficient aid deliveries to the strip.

In accordance with the agreement, 600 aid lorries and another 50 carrying fuel should enter the strip every day. "We do not see this amount entering," Mr Fidan added.

International aid organisations said last week Israel was “arbitrarily” rejecting shipments of life-saving assistance into Gaza. From October 10 to 21, a total of 99 requests by international non-governmental organisations to deliver aid into Gaza were rejected, while six submitted by UN agencies were denied, said 41 major aid groups in a joint statement.

“The continued rejection of aid entry is deeply alarming,” they said. “After more than two years of relentless and continued bombardments – with dozens killed in the past week alone – and the resulting deprivation, forced displacement and starvation, blocking humanitarian expertise and supplies undermines the collective effort to save lives.”