Hamas rejects UN Gaza resolution, says international force would become party to conflict

CNBCTV - Hamas rejected the United Nations Security Council's passing a US-drafted resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan, saying it fails to meet Palestinians' rights and demands and seeks to impose an international trusteeship on the enclave that Palestinians and resistance factions oppose.

"Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation," the group added.

This comes at a time when Hamas is seeking to widen control over Gaza as US plans for its future slowly take shape, Gazans say, adding to rivals' doubts over whether it will cede authority as promised.

After a ceasefire began last month, Hamas swiftly re-established its hold over areas from which Israel withdrew, killing dozens of Palestinians it accused of collaborating with Israel, theft or other crimes. Foreign powers demand that the group disarm and leave the government, but have yet to agree on who will replace them.

Now, a dozen Gazans say they are increasingly feeling Hamas' control in other ways. Authorities monitor everything coming into areas of Gaza held by Hamas, levying fees on some privately imported goods, including fuel, as well as cigarettes and fining merchants seen to be overcharging for goods, according to 10 of the Gazans, three of them merchants with direct knowledge.