Gaza Ceasefire Holds Amid Power Struggles and Uncertain Future

A week has passed since the implementation of the U.S.-brokered Gaza peace plan, agreed to by both Israel and Hamas after mediation efforts from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey. Despite reports of drone activity, tank movements, and several Palestinian casualties as residents began moving around the Gaza Strip, the fragile ceasefire has largely remained intact.

While the international community hopes for a permanent end to hostilities, significant questions loom over the region’s future. The power vacuum created by Israel’s demand for Hamas to disarm has raised critical concerns: Who will govern Gaza if not Hamas? How will the devastated enclave be rebuilt? When will sufficient humanitarian aid arrive? And what role will Palestinians have in the new governance structure being planned by Western powers?

In this information void, various theories have proliferated across social media and political circles, with fact-checkers working diligently to separate truth from misinformation.

Hamas Reasserts Control Amid Internal Power Struggles

As Israeli forces withdraw from parts of Gaza under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas has been working to reassert control over the territory, despite the deal’s stipulation that the group must eventually disarm. This effort has reportedly included public executions of rival factions.

Videos of recent executions have emerged, with footage shared by Hamas-affiliated accounts. Reuters confirmed the authenticity of some footage through Hamas sources. The group has publicly pledged to crack down on “collaborators” and “lawlessness” in Gaza.

Analysts suggest these displays of force are partially intended to counter armed clans that have increasingly challenged Hamas’s authority over the past two years. Verification journalists from multiple organizations, including BBC Verify and Deutschlandradio, have investigated these incidents, confirming locations through satellite imagery comparison and on-the-ground sources.

The internal power struggle has caught the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump, who posted on Truth Social: “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.”

Misinformation Spreads as Ceasefire Takes Hold

As with any major geopolitical development, misinformation has flourished in the wake of the ceasefire implementation. One widely circulated claim on social media suggested that “all female hostages are dead,” with posts implying that no women remained alive in captivity.

Fact-checkers from Deutsche Welle and VerificaRTVE clarified that this misrepresented the situation. Most female hostages had already been returned in previous exchanges, primarily in November 2023. Only one female hostage, Inbar Hayman, was unaccounted for when these claims circulated, and she was known to be deceased. Her remains were subsequently transferred later in the week.

Other viral content included an image of a Teletubbies doll allegedly booby-trapped by Israeli forces. VRT nws check revealed this was actually footage from as far back as 2018, likely from Yemen and possibly the work of Houthi rebels.

Similarly, a video purporting to show Hamas mobilizing on Gaza’s streets after the ceasefire was identified as footage from January, during a previous prisoner exchange. These examples highlight the ongoing challenge of verifying information from a rapidly changing conflict zone.

The Enormous Task of Rebuilding Gaza

Perhaps the most daunting challenge facing Gaza is reconstruction. After years of bombardment, much of the territory is an unrecognizable landscape of concrete rubble, making even basic verification and geolocation of footage difficult.

The United Nations estimates the damage at approximately $70 billion. Professor Andreas Krieg, a Middle East security expert, notes that the situation is “worse than starting from scratch” due to the overwhelming amount of debris.

According to Jaco Cilliers, the UN Development Programme special representative for Palestinians, roughly 84% of the enclave has been destroyed. Beyond buildings, critical infrastructure for clean water, sewerage, and electricity has been severely damaged.

Even before the conflict, Gaza’s power supply was unreliable and largely dependent on Israel, raising questions about how essential services will be restored and whether Israel will be involved as it has been historically. These decisions will likely become politically contentious as international rebuilding efforts get underway.

For now, Palestinians are focused on mourning the nearly 68,000 dead and caring for more than 170,000 wounded as they attempt to rebuild their lives. Yet even when physical reconstruction eventually occurs, the environmental impact of both the bombardment and rebuilding efforts—not to mention the psychological toll on survivors—remains incalculable.

As the ceasefire enters its second week, the international community watches closely, hoping this fragile peace might evolve into something more permanent despite the enormous challenges ahead.