Hamas says ready to hand over governance in Gaza

Hamas affirmed on Tuesday its readiness to hand over governance in the Gaza Strip, while accusing Nickolay Mladenov, "high representative for Gaza" of the U.S.-led "Board of Peace," of obstructing the work of the Gaza technocratic committee.

Hamas is "categorically and decisively ready to hand over all areas of governance, including security, to the national committee that was agreed upon and is still in Cairo," Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told reporters in Gaza.

Claims by some parties suggesting Hamas refuses to hand over governance in Gaza "are lies and a disinformation campaign aimed at inciting against the movement and giving the Israeli occupation a pretext to escalate its aggression in Gaza," Qassem said.

Israel is preventing the committee from entering through the crossings, he added, accusing both Israel and Mladenov of obstructing the handover process.

Two Palestinians were killed on Tuesday by Israeli strikes in central Gaza, according to Palestinian official media reports.

One of the airstrikes, which occurred in Deir al-Balah, killed one Palestinian and wounded four others.

Another drone strike in the north of Deir al-Balah killed one Palestinian and injured two others.

Also on Tuesday, the Israeli government allocated one billion shekels (about 350 million U.S. dollars) to the Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces to fund a special military tribunal for Palestinians suspected of involvement in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Oct. 7 attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel, with over 250 hostages kidnapped, according to Israeli figures. It triggered the massive Israeli military operation across Gaza that left the Palestinian enclave in ruins and killed at least 72,737 people, according to Gaza-based health authorities.

Hamas says ready to hand over governance in Gaza

Gold became the largest component of global official reserves in 2025, surpassing holdings of U.S. Treasuries and the euro as rising prices boosted its share, the European Central Bank (ECB) said Tuesday.

Gold made up 27 percent of the total official foreign reserves, including foreign exchange and gold holdings, at the end of 2025, compared with 22 percent for U.S. Treasuries and 15 percent for the euro, according to an ECB report.

Data released by the ECB showed that global central bank gold purchases surged in 2022, peaked in 2024, and then eased in 2025.

Gold purchases by central banks fell to around 850 tons, below the average level between 2022 and 2024, which topped 1,000 tons. Despite historically high prices, demand for gold remained elevated.

The increase in gold's share of official reserves was driven largely by soaring prices, the ECB said. Gold prices soared by 60 percent and 30 percent in nominal terms in 2025 and 2024, respectively.

Apart from diversification, central banks use gold as a hedge against geopolitical risk. However, compared to fiat currencies, gold's status as part of reserves has limitations, the ECB report argued, citing price volatility, the inability to be remunerated, high storage costs, and inelastic supply.

Gold surpasses US Treasuries, euro in global official reserves: ECB