Gaza Herald — Nearly ten months after the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza was announced on January 14, 2026, the body has yet to enter the devastated territory or assume its administrative responsibilities, as Palestinian political figures accuse Israel of obstructing the transition while Gaza’s humanitarian emergency continues to worsen.
The committee, chaired by Ali Shaath, was established to oversee civilian administration and help coordinate reconstruction, emergency shelter, and humanitarian relief. However, its continued absence from Gaza has raised growing concerns over the ability to restore essential services and address the urgent needs of more than two million Palestinians.
The delays have become particularly alarming following a devastating winter storm that flooded displacement camps, damaged thousands of makeshift shelters, and threatened buildings already weakened by Israeli bombardment.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, approximately 70,000 tents were affected by heavy rainfall, exposing displaced families to freezing temperatures, flooding, and further displacement.
In Deir al-Balah, a rain-soaked sand embankment collapsed onto tents sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing several people, including three children.
The worsening conditions have intensified calls for the committee to enter Gaza immediately and begin addressing the growing humanitarian crisis.
Hamas Accuses Israel of Blocking the Committee’s Entry
Despite repeated appeals, the National Committee remains outside Gaza, with its members reportedly based in Cairo.
Hamas officials accuse Israel of refusing to permit the committee’s entry and obstructing implementation of the next phase of the ceasefire agreement.
The movement has repeatedly declared its readiness to transfer civilian administrative responsibilities to the committee, including police and security functions.
On July 6, Hamas announced the dissolution of both the Government Emergency Committee and the interim Government Follow-up Committee, headed by Mohammed al-Farra, in a move intended to facilitate the transfer of authority.
However, the committee has still not assumed its responsibilities inside Gaza.
Abdul-Jabbar Saeed, a member of Hamas’s Political Bureau abroad, said Israel bears direct responsibility for preventing the committee from entering the territory and carrying out its mandate.
According to Saeed, the necessary arrangements for the administrative transition have already been completed, and Hamas remains committed to handing over governance.
He argued that Israel’s continued refusal to allow the committee to enter Gaza has left the territory’s civilian administration in a state of uncertainty while humanitarian conditions deteriorate.
Calls for Immediate Action as Winter Crisis Escalates
Saeed urged the National Committee and its members to publicly address the worsening humanitarian emergency and clearly identify the obstacles preventing them from assuming their responsibilities.
He also criticized the Board of Peace for its failure to confront Israeli restrictions and hold Israel accountable for obstructing the committee’s work.
According to Saeed, the committee’s immediate priority should be securing access to Gaza and coordinating urgent humanitarian assistance, particularly winter shelter materials, medicines, fuel, and spare parts needed to keep ambulances and municipal vehicles operating.
These supplies are increasingly critical as heavy rainfall, damaged infrastructure, and shortages of emergency equipment place displaced families at greater risk.
Saeed said continued delays were unacceptable given the scale of the humanitarian emergency and criticized international mediators for failing to secure meaningful progress.
He called on the committee to adopt a more assertive public position rather than remain dependent on prolonged diplomatic negotiations.
PFLP Rejects Foreign Control Over Gaza’s Administration
Mohammed al-Ghoul, a member of the General Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), also criticized the committee’s continued absence, describing growing public frustration as a legitimate response to Gaza’s worsening living conditions.
Al-Ghoul argued that the committee has been deprived of meaningful authority because key decisions remain in the hands of external actors, while Israeli restrictions continue to prevent its entry into Gaza.
He accused the Board of Peace of exercising excessive influence over the territory’s future administration, leaving the Palestinian committee unable to carry out its intended responsibilities.
According to al-Ghoul, the committee was established to serve Gaza’s population within a unified Palestinian national framework, not to operate as a remote administrative body controlled by outside powers.
He warned against arrangements that could institutionalize the political and geographic separation of Gaza from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Reaffirming the PFLP’s rejection of foreign tutelage, al-Ghoul called for the committee to receive genuine administrative authority and begin operating inside Gaza without external interference.
He also urged its leadership to publicly identify the parties preventing it from fulfilling its mandate.
Israel and International Mediators Face Growing Criticism
Al-Ghoul held Israel primarily responsible for blocking the committee’s entry, restricting reconstruction, and maintaining controls on Gaza’s crossings.
He also accused the Board of Peace, international mediators, and ceasefire guarantors of failing to exert sufficient pressure to end the restrictions.
In his view, the absence of effective international intervention has allowed administrative paralysis and humanitarian suffering to continue.
The Board of Peace, meanwhile, reportedly issued a statement Monday urging Israeli authorities to facilitate the entry of winter supplies and fulfill commitments under the ceasefire framework.
The statement also addressed obligations relating to Palestinian factions and military activity.
Critics argue that such diplomatic appeals have failed to produce the practical changes needed to improve conditions inside Gaza.
With displacement camps flooded, essential infrastructure damaged, and families facing another winter without adequate shelter, Palestinian officials and political representatives say the committee’s continued exclusion is preventing urgent humanitarian and administrative measures from moving forward.
For Gaza’s population, the central question is no longer simply when a new governing body will assume office, but whether it will be given the authority and access necessary to restore essential services, coordinate reconstruction, and respond to a humanitarian crisis that continues to threaten civilian lives.
