Palestinian resistance group Hamas has moved back into several areas of Gaza from which the Israeli military withdrew under the U.S.-brokered cease-fire, reestablishing its police presence and working to revive basic public services.
The inaugural meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" on Thursday included an announcement on the recruitment of a new transitional Palestinian police force in Gaza meant to take over security from Hamas.
It also saw several countries pledge to send troops for the nascent International Stabilisation Force in the Gaza Strip, without any timetable set.
"Everyone knows that Hamas possesses the real power in Gaza," said Jaber Shaaban, a displaced Palestinian living in a tent in Gaza City.
"Hamas is the strongest and largest organized entity and it has power, police and a government," the 64-year-old added.
"Without Hamas, the committee cannot work," he said, referring to the 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee formed to handle day-to-day governance of Gaza.
Since a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 10, Gaza has been divided by a so-called "Yellow Line" beyond which Israeli forces are stationed and which leaves the military in control of just over half of the territory.
"Currently, we operate only in areas under Hamas control," said Abu Ashraf Barbah, a merchant who, before the war, supplied food items across the territory of more than two million Palestinians.
"The Hamas ministry is the one that deals with traders and controls the markets, while the Hamas police carry out campaigns against tax evaders," he added.
The newly-formed Palestinian technocratic body is primarily mandated to oversee civilian services such as health, education and municipal affairs.
Phase two of Trump's Gaza cease-fire plan, which the U.N. Security Council endorsed in November, stipulates that Hamas should disarm and the Strip's day-to-day governance be handed over to the technocratic committee.
The return to some form of public order is one of the challenges of the second phase, which the United States launched last month.
Concrete results have been slow to materialize.
While waiting for the transitional authority to take shape, Gaza's existing police force – which answers to Hamas authorities – has returned to the streets since the cease-fire took effect.
AFP journalists reported that uniformed, armed police have deployed at major intersections, hospital entrances and government buildings, directing traffic and regulating markets.
With many police stations destroyed during Israeli air strikes, some units have resumed operations from temporary tents, residents said.
For traders, Hamas's influence is most visible.
"The one controlling everything in Gaza's economy is Hamas," said 41-year-old merchant Samir Abu Adnan.
"Hamas has started collecting taxes, the ministry of economy publishes daily price lists, and the police and ministries are still affiliated with Hamas," he said.
Several traders confirmed to AFP that civil servants were collecting taxes in markets and shops, relying on police enforcement in cases of non-compliance.
In rare testimony to the media, a police captain in Gaza City told AFP that the force would maintain law and order regardless of who formally governs the territory.
"We are a police force that carries out the government's instructions," the 44-year-old officer said, declining to be identified for security reasons.
"We do not care who will be in the political leadership of the government," he added.
"What matters to me is that the incoming government is not affiliated with the occupation," he said, referring to Israel.
"If the committee takes over Gaza, we will help it."
But there is uncertainty over how the transitional technocratic committee would be deployed in the territory and what would happen to the current police force.
Amani Ashtiwi, a teacher living in a tent in central Gaza, said the committee would need "very strong support from the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and America to be able to govern Gaza."
"The committee faces a long and difficult road because Hamas controls the levers of life in Gaza," Ashtiwi added.
For merchant Abu Adnan, Hamas still "holds the power."
"If the committee takes over, it will need Hamas's approval for every decision," he said.
