Despite being besieged by Israeli tanks and troops and facing the threat of total annihilation at Donald Trump, Hamas is showing resilience amid the ruins of Gaza—less than half of which remains intact—and is working to restore the rudiments of its pre-war governance.This underscores Hamas’s refusal to hand over all power and weapons as demanded by the Donald Trump peace plan, which is currently stalled in the first phase of a ceasefire.Although the Islamist faction can no longer field paramilitary forces akin to those used during its October 7, 2023, incursion into southern Israel, the rifles it retains still give pause to the foreign intervention forces envisioned by Donald Trump.Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza who is currently at Northwestern University in Chicago, stated: “Hamas is using the delay in the second phase of the Donald Trump plan as an opportunity to rebuild political and security control in the areas under its de facto control.”According to three Hamas members serving in government or military roles, the faction has placed its armed personnel under a more streamlined command structure. They also stated that Hamas is selecting leaders for its political bureau to succeed Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in Iran in 2024.