Kelly Campa, Johanna Moore, Andie Parry, Annika Ganzeveld, Katherine Wells, Kathryn Tyson, Siddhant Kishore, and Nicholas Carl

Information Cutoff: 2:00pm ET

Israel and international mediators continued ceasefire talks on July 7. The Israeli Prime Minister’s office confirmed that Israeli negotiators met with mediators in Doha and would travel to Egypt on July 11. Hamas claimed that it had not received a new proposal or additional information from the international mediators’ talks with Israel.

International mediators are reportedly considering using 2,500 US-trained Palestinian Authority (PA) supporters from the Gaza Strip as an interim governing force in the Gaza Strip. It remains unclear how the United States would train the Gaza Strip–based PA supporters. The governance force plan is notable given that Hamas reportedly said it is “prepared to relinquish authority to the interim governance arrangement” in the event of a ceasefire. This force would enable the implementation of the long-negotiated three-phase ceasefire plan that orders the staggered release of hostages, an interim ceasefire, an IDF withdrawal, and the eventual reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. A US official said that Israel and Hamas have agreed to “the framework” but that details on implementation still need to be negotiated. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli negotiators spoke to mediators in Qatar about “ways to implement the outline,” which supports the US official’s statement that the parties have agreed to a framework.

Hamas has previously undermined Israeli attempts to set up alternative governance structures in the Gaza Strip and will likely continue to suppress Israeli-organized political alternatives. The lack of security for Palestinians involved in Israeli-organized alternatives to Hamas makes establishing a non-Hamas governing authority more difficult. Hamas has a long history of killing and suppressing dissidents and political alternatives, including members of local Gazan clans. An attempt to set up an alternative governance structure will necessitate the provision of security to protect the members from Hamas. The Israeli national security adviser said on June 25 that the IDF will replace Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip “in the coming days,” suggesting confidence that an unspecified force will take over despite Hamas’ continued presence.

Key Takeaways:

• Iran: IRGC Quds Force Commander Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani has traveled to Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria in recent days to meet with unspecified Axis of Resistance leaders, according to Iraqi media.

• Some senior IRGC commanders have emphasized in recent days the need for the Iranian political establishment, particularly hardliners, to accept and support Iranian President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian in order to preserve political stability.

• Gaza Strip: International mediators are reportedly considering using 2,500 US-trained PA supporters from the Gaza Strip as an interim governing force in the Gaza Strip.

• Russia: Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf attended the BRICS parliamentary forum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

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ISW–CTP has launched an interactive map of Israeli ground operations to accompany our daily campaign assessments of the Israel–Hamas war. This product complements the daily static maps that ISW-CTP produces with high-fidelity and, where possible, street-level assessments of the war in Israel.

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