Gaza peace doubts deepen as attention shifts to Iran

Nearly six months after a fragile ceasefire came into force in Gaza, Palestinians in this war-torn territory are still struggling. In the markets, there are again shortages of some goods and rising prices – with merchants saying supplies brought in from Israel have been disrupted by the new war in the region. "What does the war between Iran and Israel have to do with us? Prices have doubled here. Goods aren't coming in like before," says a shopper, Hassan Faqawi, despairingly. "In this situation, the whole world is focused on Iran, America and Israel, and Gaza is forgotten." While world attention has turned to the Iran war, there is increasing uncertainty about what happens in Gaza at a crucial stage in President Trump's 20-point peace plan, which halted the fighting in October last year. In the past week at the UN Security Council, the High Representative for Gaza on the US-led Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, laid out a detailed plan for Palestinian armed groups to decommission their weapons - linking compliance to the start of reconstruction. But a Palestinian official familiar with Hamas affairs told the BBC it was likely that Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war, would reject the proposals. That raises the prospect of a return to a full-force military offensive with Israel's prime minister demanding that Hamas disarms "either the easy way or the hard way." Heavy rain in recent weeks caused sewage systems to overflow in crowded tent camps. Although the Trump plan pledged the immediate resumption of "full aid" to Gaza, with rehabilitation of essential infrastructure - for water, sewage and electricity - as well as the equipment needed to clear rubble, humanitarian agencies say much more needs to be done. Reconstruction materials are not yet allowed by Israel to enter, on the grounds that they could be used by Hamas to build tunnels and weaponry. "You know a huge amount of our effort is spent negotiating for the smallest crumbs, like a crossing to reopen or a few litres of fuel. So, progress towards recovery is limited and almost not there, really," says Bushra Khalidi, Policy Lead for Oxfam, based in Ramallah. "We're not seeing large-scale debris removal, we're not seeing proper rehabilitation of underground infrastructure, and there's still nowhere near enough fuel to run power systems. So, this is basic survival in Gaza." In a statement to the BBC, Cogat, the Israeli army body responsible for managing the crossings, denied there were aid shortages and accused Hamas of exploiting resources. Despite a ceasefire, Israeli air strikes in Gaza have continued. Dozens of Palestinians – including children – have been killed since the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February. Israel says it is targeting Hamas, with commanders of its military wing and police officers among the dead. While Hamas publicly welcomed the creation of a new 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee - an apolitical body to temporarily run Gaza - and pledged to hand over governance, there are signs that the group is reasserting its authority. Sources told the BBC that the Hamas Interior Ministry has restructured its executive apparatus, appointing new police directors, setting up temporary headquarters and detention facilities and deploying new security patrols. Witnesses say masked men in military style uniforms have set up dozens of checkpoints, stopping and searching vehicles and passers-by after nine o'clock at night. Meanwhile, traders and shopkeepers complain that Hamas has imposed heavy taxes on goods and services – pushing up prices in Gaza even further. Gazans express frustration with the situation. "Unfortunately, no-one is controlling Gaza right now except Hamas," says a displaced woman, Hanaa. "We pray to God that peace will be imposed, and that the national committee will come and control Gaza." Speaking to the BBC, a senior official in the National Committee for Gaza Administration, which reports to Trump's Board of Peace, said: "There is no date yet for a return to Gaza." At the UN on Tuesday, Nikolay Mladenov, High Representative for Gaza on the Board of Peace, laid out what he said was a comprehensive framework to decommission the weapons of Palestinian armed groups - starting with "the most dangerous weapons, rockets, heavy munitions, explosive devices and assault rifles." "The laying down of arms by militant actors would represent a decisive break from cycles of violence that have defined life in Gaza for decades," he said. "For the people of Gaza, the implications are profound: Israeli military withdrawal and reconstruction at scale." Mladenov told the Security Council that the choice was between "a renewed war, or a new beginning". The Palestinian source close to Hamas who spoke to the BBC said that the group had received proposals to disarm in exchange for the phased pullout of Israeli troops from Gaza over a period of six to nine months. The official expected Hamas to reject the plan. A Hamas leader Bassem Naim criticised Mladenov's approach. In a statement, he said Mladenov was linking all key issues including the entry of the technocratic committee and international forces into the Gaza Strip to Hamas's weapons. Bassem Naim suggested that the new proposals contradicted the October 2025 Sharm el-Sheikh agreement and UN Security Council resolution 2803, which endorsed the Trump peace plan. He said Mladenov was trying to "reshape the process" to suit Israel's agenda, with "no real guarantees" offered for implementing future commitments. There was no immediate response from Mladenov. After a high-profile signing ceremony to launch the Board of Peace at January's World Economic Forum in Davos and a meeting last month in Washington at which $7bn (£5.3bn; 6.5bn euros) were pledged for Gaza's reconstruction, some commentators suggest that the ceasefire process now looks stuck. "There's still a lot of distrust about whether this programme can actually move forwards," says Amjad Iraqi, Senior Analyst from the International Crisis Group. "There's a lot of pressure on Hamas to have to accept it, including from mediators as their attention drifts toward Iran." At the UN, the Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour, continues to endorse the Trump peace plan. He remains hopeful that Nickolay Mladenov can advance his framework for disarmament. "It is complicated," he tells us, "but it seems that he is determined, and he is in charge of this process at the Board of Peace so there are powerful forces behind him." The ambassador stressed that work is being done with the new technocratic committee to get 200,000 temporary housing units into the strip. Some 5,000 new Palestinian police officers for Gaza are said to have been recruited, with many trained in Egypt. Ultimately, they are meant to serve alongside an International Stabilisation Force. But Mansour said this was only the "beginning". "We will see in the coming weeks and months how this second phase of the plan will be implemented, and of course to keep the issue alive while other things are happening in the wider region is important." In Gaza, the lull in violence has given a glimpse of more hopeful possibilities if the push for peace succeeds. But continuing setbacks mean many Palestinians are increasingly sceptical about the prospects for the Trump plan, fearing that it could break down while international attention is focused elsewhere.