The Iran War Is Changing the Situation in Gaza

With attention turned to Iran, it is easy to forget that the war with Hamas has been put on hold, but not necessarily concluded. The IDF remains in place in the portion of Gaza east of the yellow line, which bisects the Strip from north to south, but Hamas still controls the west, and is doing everything it can to reassert its authority and rebuild its arsenals. The Board of Peace and other mechanisms of governance that have evolved out of the October cease-fire have not really begun to function. The defeat of Iran would end, or at least curb, its ability to act as Hamas’s patron, but it is no panacea: the group still can raise tax revenue, and some other malign actor—perhaps Qatar or Turkey—could step into the Islamic Republic’s shoes.