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Deir el-Balah:\u00a0Hamas said Wednesday it was ready to transfer the governance of Gaza to a Palestinian technocratic committee, while insisting the key Rafah border crossing be fully reopened within days.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cProtocols are prepared, files are complete, and committees are in place to oversee the handover, ensuring a complete transfer of governance in the Gaza Strip across all sectors to the technocratic committee,\u201d Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP.<\/p>\n The 15-member National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) is a team of Palestinian technocrats created as part of the US-sponsored ceasefire agreement which came into effect on October 10.<\/p>\n It is charged with managing the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza and will work under the supervision of the \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d, which US President Donald Trump will chair.<\/p>\n The NCAG, headed by former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath, is expected to enter the Gaza Strip once the territory\u2019s Rafah crossing, on its border with Egypt, reopens.<\/p>\n Hamas spokesman Qassem added that the Rafah crossing \u201cmust be opened in both directions, with full freedom of exit and entry to the Gaza Strip, without any Israeli obstacles\u201d.<\/p>\n Rafah is Gaza\u2019s only gateway to the outside world that does not lead to Israel and is a key entry point for both people and goods.<\/p>\n It has been closed since Israeli forces took control of it in May 2024, except for a limited reopening in early 2025, and other bids to reopen have failed to materialise.<\/p>\n NCAG head Shaath announced last week that Rafah would reopen in both directions the following week.<\/p>\n Qassem told AFP the \u201cindependent national committee\u2019s announcement of the opening of the Rafah crossing is important\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is more important is that we monitor this committee\u2019s handling of citizens\u2019 departures and entries in full freedom in accordance with the agreement, and not according to Israeli conditions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Israel has said it would only allow pedestrians to travel through the crossing as part of its \u201climited reopening\u201d once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili.<\/p>\n Israeli forces brought back Gvili\u2019s remains on Monday and his funeral was held in the southern town of Meitar on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Qassem said Wednesday that \u201cit is clear that Hamas is committed to the agreement to stop the war on the Gaza Strip\u201d, which began after the militant group\u2019s deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has carried out everything required of it in the first phase and is ready to enter all tracks of the second phase,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n With the technocratic committee\u2019s creation and the last hostage held in Gaza returned to Israel, the ceasefire deal\u2019s next important milestones will be Hamas\u2019s disarmament and Israel\u2019s withdrawal from Gaza.<\/p>\n Though Hamas said the return of Gvili\u2019s body showed its commitment to the ceasefire deal, it has so far not surrendered its weapons.<\/p>\n The group has repeatedly said disarmament is a red line, but it has also suggested it would be open to handing over its weapons to a Palestinian governing authority.<\/p>\n Neither Israel nor Hamas have committed to a clear date or strategy for withdrawal or disarmament.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n