The Gaza Strip is governed by Hamas which assumed control of the territory on 11 June 2007 after seizing it from the rival Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA). The Hamas administration was first led by Ismail Haniyeh from June 2007 until February 2017; then by Yahya Sinwar until his killing in October 2024; then by Mohammed Sinwar until his assassination in May 2025; then by Izz al-Din al-Haddad until his assassination in May 2026; then by Mohammed Odeh until his assassination the same month. During the Gaza war, the group lost control over most of the Gaza Strip to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). As a result of the Gaza peace plan, agreed in October 2025, the IDF currently controls approximately 53% of the territory, and Hamas is set to hand over power to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, as endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803.
After Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections on 25 January 2006, Ismail Haniyeh was nominated as the prime minister of the PA, establishing a national unity government with Fatah. This government effectively collapsed with the outbreak of the violent conflict between Hamas and Fatah. After the full takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas on 15 June 2007, PA president Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government and appointed Salam Fayyad as prime minister. Though the new Palestinian government's authority was claimed to extend to both the Palestinian territories, in effect it became limited to the West Bank, as Hamas did not recognize the dismissal and continued to rule the Gaza Strip as an effectively separate administration from the PA. There have been reconciliation attempts between Fatah and Hamas since the 2007 split; a brief Palestinian unity government in 2014 failed to organize elections and reunify the Palestinian territories. A third government was formed by Hamas in October 2016.
Since Hamas assumed control over the Gaza Strip, it has engaged in multiple wars with Israel, including those in 2008, 2012, 2014, and an ongoing one since 2023. Hamas lost control of the majority of the Strip in early June 2025, amidst Operation Gideon's Chariots. Hamas has also come into conflict with rival Islamist factions in Gaza that adhere to Salafi-jihadism. Examples include the 2009 revolt of Jund Ansar Allah against Hamas in Rafah, and the 2011 Hamas crackdown on Tawhid al-Jihad after the latter's murder of Vittorio Arrigoni. On 6 July 2026, Hamas announced a proposal for the resignation of its civil administration under the Gaza peace plan, though this did not include the military wing of Hamas and was judged to be unlikely to result in notable change to Gaza. On 31 July 2026, US president Donald Trump announced that his Board of Peace had reached an agreement to disarm Hamas and other militant organisations in Gaza. Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad declared that the "draft agreement" calls for transferring heavy weaponry in Gaza to a Palestinian administration after an Israeli withdrawal.
History
Prelude to division
Conflict between Fatah and Hamas began simmering when Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006. Israel and the Quartet—comprising the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations—demanded that the new Hamas government accept all previous agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce violence; when Hamas refused, they cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority.
Major conflict erupted in Gaza in December 2006, when the Hamas executive authority attempted to replace the Palestinian police as the primary authority in Gaza.
On 8 February 2007, Saudi-sponsored negotiations in Mecca produced an agreement on a Palestinian national unity government. The agreement was signed by Mahmoud Abbas on behalf of Fatah and Khaled Mashal on behalf of Hamas. The new government was called on to achieve Palestinian national goals as approved by the Palestine National Council, the clauses of the Basic Law and the National Reconciliation Document (the "Prisoners' Document") as well as the decisions of the Arab summit.
In March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council approved formation a national unity government with 83–3 vote. Government ministers were sworn in by Abbas, the president on the Palestinian National Authority, at ceremonies held in Gaza and Ramallah. In June that year, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip from the national unity government after forcing out Fatah.
On 14 June 2007, Abbas announced the dissolution of the former unity government and declared a state of emergency. He dismissed Ismail Haniyeh as prime minister and appointed Salam Fayyad in his place, giving him the task of building a new government. Nonetheless, Hamas rejected the decree of Abbas and said the Ismail Haniyeh government would remain in office and continue to function as the government of the Palestinian National Authority.
June 2007 Hamas government
Takeover by Hamas With Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip and Fatah in control of the West Bank, there were two de facto governments in the Palestinian territories, each claiming to be the legitimate government of the Palestinian people. On 14 June 2007, Abbas dismissed the Hamas-dominated PA government of March 2007, but Haniyye refused to accept the dismissal and declared the formation of a new Hamas government in June 2007, as West Bank resident Ministers in the Palestinian government were deposed by Fatah.
Palestinian police chief Kamal el-Sheikh ordered his men in the Gaza Strip not to work or obey Hamas orders. However, many Fatah members fled the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, and Fatah gunmen stormed Hamas-led institutions in the West Bank after the Battle of Gaza.
Palestinian legislator Saeb Erekat said the PA officially has no control in the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Fatah accused each other of a coup d'état, with neither recognizing the authority of the other government.
The United States, EU, and Israel have not recognized the Hamas government, but support Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's government in the West Bank. The Arab League called on all parties to stop the fighting and return the government to its status before the Battle of Gaza, which would be the 2007 unity government and not the new PA government appointed by Abbas. Although the United States does not officially recognize the Hamas government, it holds it "fully and entirely responsible for the Gaza Strip," United States Assistant Secretary of State Sean McCormack said.
On 16 June 2007, Haniyeh declared Said Fanuna (officially a Fatah general who, in reality, distanced himself from Abbas) as the new security chief in the Gaza Strip, stating him as a "higher police command" than the West Bank-based police chief Kamal el-Sheikh of the Fatah.
Internal and external conflicts After the division of the two Palestinian parties, the West Bank remained relatively quiet, but the Gaza Strip was the scene of constant conflict between Hamas and various other rival Islamist factions opposed to the Hamas government. The 2008–2009 Gaza war between Hamas and Israel also occurred during this time.
In 2009, a radical Salafist cleric declared an "Islamic Emirate" in Gaza, accusing Hamas of failing to implement full Sharia law. The radicalization of the Gaza Strip and attempt to undermine Hamas authority resulted in the 2009 Hamas crackdown on Jund Ansar Allah, an Al-Qaeda affiliated group, that lasted two days and resulted in 22 deaths.
Reports in March 2010 suggested that Ahmed Jabari described the security situation in Gaza as deteriorating, and that Hamas was starting to lose control. Nevertheless, the Hamas continued to exercise authority.
In April 2011, Hamas conducted another crackdown, this one on a Salafist group reportedly involved in Vittorio Arrigoni's murder.
In March 2019, Gaza witnessed widespread protests, reflecting dissatisfaction with the severe living conditions, which were marked by a 70% unemployment rate among young people. The scale and intensity of the protests were unprecedented since Hamas assumed full control of Gaza in 2007. In response, Hamas took harsh measures: Dozens of individuals, including activists, journalists, and human rights workers, have been beaten, arrested and subjected to home raids.
During the Arab Spring Hamas praised the Arab Spring, but its offices in Damascus were directly affected by the Syrian Civil War. Hamas leader Khaled Mashal eventually relocated to Jordan, and Hamas began to distance itself from the Syrian government in the backdrop of the Syrian civil war. The evacuation of Hamas offices from Damascus may be the principal reason for the Doha ratification agreement signed by Abbas and Mashal, but it was also suggested that this was done due to a rift between Hamas Government in Gaza and the external Hamas office, led by Mashal. Essentially, the Doha deal does not reflect any real reconciliation among the factions of the Hamas Government.
Following the events of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, and the consequent election of an Islamist president in Egypt, Hamas relations with Egypt improved, and in 2012 Egypt eased the permit requirements for Palestinians from Gaza entering through the Rafah crossing. In July 2012, reports circulated that the Hamas Government was considering declaring the independence of the Gaza Strip with the help of Egypt.
September 2012 Hamas government
In September 2012, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas government in Gaza, announced a cabinet reshuffle, appointing seven new ministers including a new finance minister. Haniyeh said the reshuffle was "normal procedure after nearly six years of work by some ministers and in order to achieve specific goals for the current period."
Haniyeh said he had postponed carrying out the cabinet reshuffle several times to allow time for a reconciliation process between Fatah and Hamas to succeed. The two sides have been trying to implement the terms of an April 2011 reconciliation deal for months now, but appear no closer to achieving either the consensus interim government or the legislative and presidential elections called for by the agreement. In May 2012, a new Fatah government appointment in the West Bank angered the Hamas government in Gaza, which slammed the decision to form a new cabinet, accusing Abbas' Palestinian Authority and the Fatah movement he heads of abandoning reconciliation.
2016 Hamas administration
The Hamas government of 2016 is the third de facto Hamas government in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007. On 17 October 2016 it as announced that the Supreme Administrative Committee, which is in charge of the conduct of Gaza's ministries, had carried out a Cabinet reshuffle in active ministries and a change the positions of 16 deputy ministers and directors general in government institutions. The new administration was composed of Deputy Ministers, Directors General and other high-level officials, not directly bound to the Ramallah administration. It was initially speculated that the 2016 Hamas government was an attempt to return Ismail Haniyeh to full control of the Gaza Strip. As part of the government changes, the Ministry of Planning was abolished.