Hamas is carrying out a wave of retribution executions and asserting its control in areas of the Gaza Strip where Israel has withdrawn, highlighting the challenge facing President Trump to get the group to give up its arms and power as part of his 20-point plan for peace.

Hamas has killed at least 33 people since the ceasefire went into effect last week, according to reporting from Reuters, with at least seven men dragged into Gaza City square on Monday.

The men, their hands bound were forced onto their knees and shot from behind in public view of dozens of people, Reuters stated.

Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former Palestinian negotiator, said that Hamas has a head start on reestablishing its control in Gaza, absent an international security force and apolitical governing body.

“The longer the time passes, and the more that they [Hamas] establish themselves on the ground now in the security sphere, we'll soon start seeing them also doing in the civilian sphere – they will start removing rubble and building a couple of schools, offering health care, all that kind of stuff – the harder it becomes to kind of dislodge them,” he said.

Hamas’s actions showcase a difficult trade-off in the ceasefire put into place.

By not demanding that Hamas first disarm and step down from power, President Trump secured on Monday the release of the remaining 20 living hostages who were held by Hamas for over two years. Work is ongoing to locate and transfer to Israel the bodies of 24 other hostages Hamas kidnapped during its Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack.

Trump said from the White House on Tuesday that if Hamas refuses to disarm,........

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