WASHINGTON, October 16. /TASS/. The radical Palestinian movement Hamas is forcibly re-establishing control over the Gaza Strip in a show that it remains the sole authority in the enclave, according to a group of Middle East correspondents for The Washington Post (WP).

"Hamas may have stopped fighting Israel, but it has launched a new, violent campaign to reassert control over local families and militias [in the Gaza Strip] that had challenged its power during the past two years of war — including those who, according to the leaders of two clans, had received support from Israel," the article points out.

In particular, the authors note that representatives of the group recently released a video showing the execution of eight people for alleged collaboration with Israel. The newspaper reports that the radicals are now widely persecuting those who collaborated with or may have received support from the Jewish state in an attempt to eliminate any opposition to Hamas rule.

The actions of Hamas, the piece notes, are intended "to send a clear message that <…> the militant group is back as the only visible authority inside the Gaza Strip." WP believes that this could seriously affect the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s plan for the future administration of the enclave, as Hamas will have "leverage in the upcoming negotiations over whether and how it will disarm and who will rule Gaza."

On September 29, the White House released a "comprehensive plan" by Trump aimed at resolving the conflict in the Gaza Strip. The 20-point plan envisions the introduction of temporary external control over the Palestinian enclave and the deployment of an international stabilization force there. On October 9, Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on the first stage of the peace plan.

On Monday, a peace summit was held in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, convened to mark the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all Israeli hostages held there. During the meeting, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Trump, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a final ceasefire agreement.

According to al-Sisi’s office, the summit participants called for the implementation of the next stages of Trump’s plan to resolve the conflict in the enclave, including governance, infrastructure rehabilitation, and a political settlement.