Peace Through Leverage in Gaza: How to Limit Hamas’s Influence and Ensure Israel’s Compliance

Feb 2, 2026

Also published in Foreign Affairs
About the Authors
Ambassador Dennis Ross
Dennis Ross

Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute.

David Makovsky
David Makovsky

David Makovsky is the Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations.

Articles & Testimony

The Trump administration needs to exert pressure on each of the “two Gazas,” pushing Hamas and its regional interlocutors on disarmament while pressing Israel to play a more constructive role and conduct phased withdrawals when merited.

Last month, the Trump administration announced the start of the second phase of its Gaza peace plan, which mandates the creation of a technocratic Palestinian governing authority, the deployment of an international stabilization force, the disarmament of Hamas, the reconstruction of Gaza, and the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces. The success of phase two will depend on the disarmament of Hamas. If there is disarmament, there will be reconstruction and Israeli withdrawal. Without it, there will be neither. Can the conditions that produced years of terrorism and war truly be dismantled? At present, there are effectively two Gazas that must be unified before a durable peace can take hold...

Read the full article on the Foreign Affairs website.

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