"The killing of Hamas military wing chief Izz ad-Din al-Haddad proves that dismantling Hamas is possible the hard way, too," a senior official involved in efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip said Saturday.
"It will not end there," the official added. "Hamas will disarm, one way or another. The killing may move them to agree to disarm voluntarily, but it also may not. Hamas will disarm. The more they do so voluntarily, the better it will be for them. The longer this is delayed, the worse it is for everyone, including them. It is a win-win or a lose-lose — but in the end, they will disarm."
Asked whether there was anger at Israel within Trump’s Board of Peace over the killing of al-Haddad, the official replied: "There is no anger at Israel. We are continuing as usual, and it is clear to everyone that Hamas is in violation. It brought this on itself."
The official, who is involved in the details surrounding Gaza’s reconstruction, said the next stage is to bring the technocratic committee and the Palestinian police force into areas under Israeli control — not areas controlled by Hamas.
"There is very good cooperation. It is more a matter of coordination and organization than questions of agreement. We are moving to reconstruction, not full reconstruction, but reconstruction. Many things need to be done beforehand, such as clearing rubble and tunnels. Everything is part of an ongoing process. The Board of Peace’s decision is not to stop preparations for reconstruction.
"Hamas has been in violation of the agreement for several weeks, with all the implications," the official concluded. "As President Trump said, 'Hamas will disarm the easy way or the hard way.' They put themselves in this situation, and the dismantling will happen in any case. We are not telling Israel whether to resume fighting. That is Israel’s decision."
The official’s remarks come as Hamas continues to entrench itself in Gaza and stubbornly refuses to disarm. Since the return of the body of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, Hamas has insisted that Israel has not fulfilled all the requirements placed on it in the first phase, and therefore there is no reason to move to the second phase, which is supposed to include the group’s disarmament. The terrorist organization insists that the issue is one for the Palestinian people to decide after the establishment of a Palestinian state and the end of the occupation.
An Israeli official said Friday night after the killing that the head of the Board of Peace, Mladenov, was furious over Hamas’ refusal on core issues, suggesting that he, too, should ostensibly be pleased with the strike. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, who announced the attack, noted that Haddad "refused to implement the agreement led by U.S. President Trump to disarm Hamas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip," and the Israeli assessment was that the strike would not affect the contacts — or could even move Hamas toward agreement.
After the killing, Hamas issued an official statement announcing al-Haddad’s death. According to the statement, he was killed along with his wife, his daughter and several other civilians. It said the killing "reaffirms the failed attempts by the terrorist entity" — as phrased in the statement — "to impose a political and on-the-ground reality that it failed to achieve by force." The terrorist organization then called on the mediators to act immediately and seriously to compel Israel to abide by the terms of the agreement.