Hamas says "fully ready" for power handover procedures

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Hamas says "fully ready" for power handover procedures

2026-01-20 12:04 Last Updated At：17:51

Hamas said Monday that it is "fully ready" to transfer administrative powers to a newly-formed Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with governing Gaza in the post-war phase.

The group pledged to ensure "a smooth and orderly transition" that protects public sector rights and guarantee the continuity of essential services for civilians, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said in a statement.

The statement framed the administrative transition as part of the second phase of the Gaza peace deal, while strongly linking it to the overarching demand for a complete end to Israeli "aggression" in Gaza.

It emphasized the "inherent right" of Palestinians to reconstruction conducted in a manner that "preserves Palestinian national rights and sovereignty," and reiterated the goal of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee to temporarily administer the post-war Gaza officially launched its work on Friday through a meeting in Cairo, prioritizing Gaza's "humanitarian file."

Meanwhile, violence continued in the enclave on Monday. Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said that three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in separate incidents in Khan Younis and Rafah areas.

Basal said Israeli forces regularly target shelters and civilian areas, calling the actions "a clear and blatant violation of all humanitarian and international laws."

Local sources also reported Israeli airstrikes east of Khan Younis and artillery shelling in eastern Gaza, alongside the demolition of residential homes.

The Israeli side has yet to comment on the latest incidents.

Since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect in October 2025, at least 465 Palestinians have been killed, raising the total death toll since October 2023 to 71,550, Gaza-based health authorities said Monday.

China to enhance equipment upgrades and trade-in programs in 2026

China will enhance its equipment upgrading and trade-in programs in 2026 to boost domestic demand, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced on Tuesday.

Regarding promoting large-scale equipment upgrades and replacing old consumer goods with new ones, significant progress was reported in 2025. In the past year, ultra-long-term special government bond funds were arranged to support approximately 8,400 equipment-upgrading projects, stimulating total investments exceeding 1 trillion yuan (about 143.5 billion U.S. dollars). Over 360 million people applied for subsidies under the consumer goods trade-in scheme, leading to sales of related goods surpassing 2.6 trillion yuan.

Wang Shancheng, director of the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection at the NDRC, said at a press conference that the Implementation of these measures will continue to be optimized in 2026.

"We will further lower the investment threshold for application projects, increase support for small and medium-sized enterprises, expand policy coverage, implement the requirements for building a unified national market, and implement unified subsidy standards nationwide for the scrapping and replacement of vehicles, trade-in of six categories of home appliances, and four categories of digital and smart product purchases," said Wang.

The NDRC representative also highlighted that in 2026, efforts will focus on comprehensively expanding domestic demand. An implementation plan to expand domestic demand for the 2026-2030 period will be formulated. Furthermore, the NDRC will promote upgrades in key industries, explore establishing a national-level mergers and acquisitions fund, and cultivate and bolster emerging and future industries.