Hamas redeploys police to Gaza City after Israel withdraws

Hamas has begun deploying police officers and making partial salary payments to some of its civil servants in Gaza City, in areas from which the Israeli occupation army withdrew the bulk of its troops a month ago, the Associated Press reported locals saying on Saturday.

The news agency said signs of Hamas’ resurgence in Gaza’s largest city underscores the group’s resilience despite Israel’s deadly air and ground offensive against the besieged enclave over the past four months.

The Israeli forces have in recent days renewed their strikes in the western and northwestern parts of Gaza City.

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Four Gaza City residents told the Associated Press that in recent days, police officers wearing uniforms and civilian clothes have been deployed near the police headquarters and other government offices.

A Gaza City resident told the agency that government employees, including police officers and municipal workers were being paid $200.

Hamas said the return of police officers aims to reinstate order in the devastated city in an effort to prevent the looting of shops and houses which had been abandoned by residents who had been forced out of the area by the occupation army.

Israel has levelled vast areas of Gaza, displacing 85 per cent of its population; inflicting a state of famine on residents.

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