A senior official says Hamas will continue to administer the Gaza Strip after 15 months of a ruthless war which Israel launched on the besieged territory to eliminate the resistance group. 

In remarks cited by the Associated Press in Cairo, Taher Nounou said the 12-day-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas means that “practically, we can say that the war is over.”

The end, he said, must be confirmed by reaching an agreement on the truce’s second phase, which would see the return of remaining living captives and a complete Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the ceasefire’s second phase are due to begin by Monday. 

“We’re determined — along with the Egyptian and Qatari mediators — to make this stage a success,” Nounou said, even though he held out the possibility that Israel could break off talks and resume fighting in Gaza.

Asked if Hamas believes it won the war, Nounou said, "The Palestinian people were not defeated. The enemy did not achieve its goals.”

Israel unleashed its all-out war on Gaza to eliminate Hamas’s ability to govern or constitute a military threat, and to recover its captives in the enclave, but achieved none of them.

Israel accepted Hamas’ longstanding negotiation terms under the Gaza truce, which began on January 19.

The ceasefire consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. In phase one - the current phase - a total of 33 Israeli captives will be released in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian abductees.

Israel releases 110 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for eight captives

Israel has released 110 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 children, following a delay by the Israeli PM, after Hamas had released eight captives.

Nounou said Hamas had agreed to an Egyptian proposal that required the group to hand over the running of Gaza to a “community support committee” of independent technocrats.

Hamas had also accepted the creation of a national consensus government that would oversee both the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip, , he said, adding both ideas had been rejected by Fatah, which dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

“Until one of the two options is adopted, there will be no vacuum. The current [Hamas-led] administration will bear its responsibility towards our people. And this is what is happening right now,” he said.