In spite of the ongoing risk of renewed fighting in Gaza, stakeholders have spent months preparing for the post-war phase. Plans for governance, security and humanitarian relief have begun to take shape, but remain largely theoretical in the absence of a political agreement, credible security guarantees and sustained funding. Below are some of the key challenges facing local and international players as they seek to rebuild the devastated territory home to more than two million Palestinians. - Security concerns - Security remains the cornerstone of every post-war scenario under discussion. Israel insists Hamas must disarm before any progress can be made, while the Palestinian movement refuses to surrender its weapons before Israeli troops withdraw and a Palestinian governing authority is established. However, an official from the Board of Peace established by US President Donald Trump to help prepare for post-war Gaza told AFP that Hamas's disarmament was no longer being treated as a precondition for advancing plans on the ground. "The entire planning is around worst case scenario," he said, referring to a planned pilot "humanitarian zone" in Rafah, in the south. "We get nothing in the negotiation, but we move forward anyhow." Among the proposals is an International Stabilization Force (ISF) tasked with helping maintain order in Gaza. According to the same source, four countries -- Morocco, Kosovo, Albania and Kazakhstan -- are "really engaged" in the initiative. A logistical base on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom crossing is "close to complete" and would be able to host an initial rotation of around 500 troops before any deployment into Gaza, the official said. Preparations are also continuing for a Palestinian police force, with around 20,000 applications already received, the official added. But several diplomats and security sources interviewed by AFP described a process that remains deadlocked. According to one diplomatic source, training has yet to begin and Israel has rejected the current list of recruits following its vetting process, arguing in particular that a proposed force of 5,000 police officers would be too large for Gaza. Despite a ceasefire in place since October 2025, daily violence grips the territory as Israeli strikes continue targeting what the military says are violations of the truce by fighters from Hamas and other Palestinian groups. - Little reconstruction - The humanitarian needs of Gaza remain overwhelming. The United Nations estimates reconstruction will take years and require tens of billions of dollars, as construction materials and debris-clearing equipment remain in critically short supply. Despite substantial donor pledges, much of the expected funding has yet to be disbursed, according to the Board of Peace. "We're working with an amount that for now meets our needs," the board official said, adding that if several humanitarian zones have to be established then "we obviously need more funding". The board is currently planning a pilot humanitarian zone in Rafah which would accommodate tens of thousands of vetted Palestinians, the official said earlier this week. - No governing institutions - Hamas announced recently it intends to hand over administrative responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a body set up by the Board of Peace comprising Palestinian technocrats tasked with overseeing day-to-day governance during a transitional period. But the NCAG has still not even managed to enter Gaza, with several Palestinian and diplomatic sources saying Israel has barred the committee from entering. For Israel, dismantling Hamas's administrative apparatus falls short of its longstanding demand that the group disarm. The future role of the Palestinian Authority (PA) also remains unresolved. Based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank -- a separate Palestinian territory from the Gaza Strip -- the PA remains the international community's officially recognized Palestinian interlocutor. The NCAG is intended as a temporary body implementing basic services across the strip, with European officials expecting it to work in coordination with the PA. Several observers, however, warn that the result could be an administration responsible for delivering public services but lacking authority over security forces or border crossings -- leaving it dependent on its international backers while remaining vulnerable to Hamas should the group retain all or part of its military arsenal.
