Senior defense officials presented alarming data to the Cabinet in recent days, revealing that Hamas has resumed almost full control of the Gaza Strip, Channel 13 reported Tuesday evening.

Senior IDF officers said, “We cannot ignore the fact that Hamas is strengthening and rebuilding its capabilities in Gaza. Israel must build its own independent operational plan to demilitarize the Strip—the Trump plan does not provide a response.”

In a move that has shocked no one, the Hamas terror group has openly ignored ceasefire terms forcing it to disarm and instead is growing stronger, rebuilding its capabilities, and reasserting near-total control of the Strip.

Ministers were shown data indicating that 13 of Gaza’s 25 municipalities have resumed full activity; Hamas police officers have been redeployed and are manning checkpoints; and Hamas is rehabilitating infrastructure and restoring its public standing among the “innocent civilian population” in Gaza.

Channel 13 reported about 10 days ago that Hamas had begun setting up checkpoints across the Strip and collecting taxes from truck drivers. The report emphasized that the “day after” question in Gaza has become the central point of contention between Israel and the US. Washington is pressing ahead with the next stage of Trump’s plan, despite the fact that Israel has yet to receive all the fallen hostages and Hamas is entrenching itself instead of disarming and stepping back from governance.

A senior security source said that this sequence of events is unacceptable to Israel: “There can be no reconstruction before demilitarization; that contradicts the Trump plan. Gaza must be demilitarized.”

He added, “The Americans are not succeeding in assembling a foreign force, so they are resorting to interim solutions—which Israel cannot accept.”

A senior Israeli official told Channel 13: “This interim situation is the worst possible. Hamas has been strengthening in the past weeks—since the end of the war.”

Meanwhile, while Hamas rebuilds in Gaza, it is also sending terrorists to Lebanon, where it is collaborating with Hezbollah. Additionally, Kan News reported on Tuesday that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group is building a significant military force in Syria.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)