After the Deal

Although this monumental peace plan has led to the return of all living Israeli hostages and a halt to the fighting, the risk of ceasefire violations runs high. It is therefore imperative for U.S. policymakers to engage with international partners to quickly organize a stabilization force and develop concrete plans for reconstruction and postwar governance. Doing so will ensure that Gaza’s immediate needs are met sustainably, allowing actors to work toward longer-term peace efforts in the future.

This white paper argues that a restructured social service architecture will be crucial to postwar Gaza’s success. Without reforming the key pillars of Gaza’s social service architecture—in addition to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and other structures of local government—Gazan civilians will be forced to continue to rely on a network of Hamas-run nongovernmental organizations, religious groups, and government ministries for basic needs such as medical care, public safety, and education. This is a recipe for Hamas’s continued dominance, ensuring its consistent access to a population within which it can recruit members and cloak itself.

While the end goal of the Trump 20-point plan is to facilitate self-governance without Hamas or military occupation, removing Hamas means leaving a significant power vacuum behind. Answering the question of “Who will be in charge?” is key to ensuring that postwar Gaza has a chance at recovery and reconstruction, as is ensuring that Palestinian voices have a role in postwar planning discussions and a say in how their territory is run by a civilian government. Despite the peace deal’s signing, it remains to be seen how the negotiating parties will arrive at an agreement that officially ends the war and disarms Hamas. Gaza still requires billions of dollars of investment and significant on-the-ground assistance to facilitate reconstruction efforts, distribute aid, restructure basic services, provide security, and reform the PA. While meeting these needs is a monumental task, the longer a ceasefire holds without a postwar governance agreement and financial support from the international community, the greater the risk that the conflict resumes.

Introduction

On September 29, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump released a draft of a 20-point plan that—if successfully implemented—would permanently end the war in Gaza, exchange all Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and establish a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee,” overseen by a transitional body chaired by Trump.¹ This “Board of Peace” would oversee Gaza’s reconstruction and development, as well as monitor reforms to the Palestinian Authority (PA). While this plan placed sufficient pressure on both Israel and Hamas and pushed them to sign onto phase one of Trump’s peace deal, as of the time of this report’s publication, many details remain unresolved. Major sticking points include Hamas’s disarmament and the makeup of the “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” that will oversee day-to-day functions in Gaza.² Critically, the proposal fails to lay out mechanisms for reforming Gaza’s social services, many of which Hamas still dominates.³

This white paper argues that a successful long-term plan for postwar Gaza must: 1) supplant Hamas charities and welfare organizations with capable and efficient government institutions run by Palestinians who are trusted by Gaza’s populace, 2) restore law and order, and 3) revitalize the PA with a new generation of local leadership. The United States should support a reconstruction effort that prioritizes participation from a generation of young Palestinians that are historically unrepresented by their government and invests in a quality social service infrastructure, thus replacing Hamas institutions and removing major avenues for its future influence over Gazan society.

Implementing a widely accepted postwar governance structure is not without challenges. The PA holds little authority and is deeply unpopular in both the West Bank and Gaza, as well as internationally.⁴ Throughout the war in Gaza, both the Biden and Trump administrations have expressed concerns about Ramallah’s ability to assume responsibility for postwar Gaza. Under the Biden administration, policymakers maintained that the PA needs to be “revamped and revitalized” to regain legitimacy and public trust.⁵ Statements from President Donald Trump further build upon decades of Washington’s distrust of the PA.⁶

Throughout the conflict, several governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have published plans that lay out strategies for postwar Gaza, but none attracted widespread support from key stakeholders.⁷ Many of those plans presented creative policy solutions, but most also failed to ask Palestinians what they wanted to see in a reformed government. Though Trump’s plan garnered major international backing, it still fails to definitively answer the question: What comes after Hamas? This paper presents one potential solution to that question by proposing a strategic approach to governance focused on restoring stability to Gaza and weakening Hamas’s ideological base. It also articulates additional U.S. policy options to support this approach to postwar planning and regional diplomacy.

This paper first examines what Gaza means for Washington. It then explains how Hamas has entrenched itself in Gazan society over the past 19 years by fostering local dependency on its network of charities and welfare organizations—a tactic characteristic of the group’s roots in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.⁸ Next, it briefly reviews polling and demographic statistics from the Gaza Strip, which provide crucial insights into Gazan political opinion and what Palestinians actually want to see in their postwar government. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for U.S. policymakers and postwar planners to support ceasefire efforts, advance regional peace, and significantly degrade Hamas’s influence over Gazan society through nonmilitary means.