GAZA/RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM/CAIRO/UNITED NATIONS - 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". The committee arrived in the Egyptian capital on Thursday, delayed by a day due to Israeli obstruction, an Egyptian source told Xinhua.

Military operation in Hebron 

Meanwhile, the Israeli army has launched a large-scale military operation in the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua that Israeli forces imposed a closure on several neighborhoods in southern Hebron and blocked a number of secondary roads using iron gates, concrete blocks, and earth mounds.

ALSO READ: Gazans receive Trump's ‘Board of Peace’ with deep skepticism

According to the sources, Israeli forces also set up multiple military checkpoints at the entrances to Hebron, as well as to its surrounding towns, villages, and refugee camps.

Amani Sarahneh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners Club, a non-governmental organization, told Xinhua that Israeli forces have arrested seven people from Hebron since the start of the operation, including a child.

Israeli media outlets reported that the Israeli army, in coordination with the domestic security agency Shin Bet, the police, and the border police, launched the operation overnight to "combat terrorism" in Hebron.

US-led Gaza coordination hub

On Monday, Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to close a US-led coordination headquarters in Israel that was established to advance US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza.

Speaking at an inauguration ceremony for Yatziv, a new settlement in the occupied West Bank, Smotrich, a member of Netanyahu's security cabinet and the leader of a pro-settler party in the governing coalition, blasted the involvement of Britain and Egypt in the US-led Gaza initiative, describing them as "countries hostile to Israel".

Britain last year imposed sanctions on Smotrich over incitement of violence in the West Bank.

"The time has come to dismantle the headquarters in Kiryat Gat," Smotrich said, referring to the southern city where the center is based.

The US-lead Civil-Military Coordination Center was established in mid-October last year as part of efforts to implement Trump's Gaza plan.

Unity between West Bank, Gaza

Palestinian Vice-President Hussein al-Sheikh stressed the importance of maintaining a political and legal link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, calling for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to resume its full responsibilities in Gaza.

During a meeting with British and French diplomats in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, al-Sheikh "underscored the importance of moving forward with political efforts aimed at achieving stability, in a manner that ensures the return of the Palestinian Authority to assume its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip", according to a statement.

Al-Sheikh said in the statement that he also "stressed the significance of political and legal linkage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip within the framework of the unity of land and institutions".

Also on Monday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with Ali Abdel Hamid Shaath, head of Palestinian technocratic committee, in Cairo and stressed Egypt's full support of the committee's tasks, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

ALSO READ: Gaza still trapped on the precipice

Egypt backs the head of the committee and all its members, in light of the responsibilities they are undertaking during this critical time, a statement issued by the ministry said.

Abdelatty emphasized the important role the committee will play in administering the daily affairs of the people of the strip and meeting their basic needs, paving the way for the Palestinian Authority to fully resume its responsibilities in Gaza.

Gaza ceasefire, aid challenges

Separately, UN humanitarians expressed concern over the holding of the Oct 10 Gaza ceasefire and the obstacles to aid distribution.

"The ceasefire agreement - which has crossed the 100-day mark - must hold so that more civilian lives can be saved," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). "The scale-up of humanitarian work continues to be held back by restrictions and impediments, with recent harsh weather also setting back some of the progress."

The concern followed OCHA's latest twice-weekly Gaza Humanitarian Response Situation Report, published Friday. It said Gaza's health authorities reported that 14 Palestinians were killed and 23 others injured in the preceding 48 hours, bringing the casualty toll to 463 dead and 1,269 injured since the start of the ceasefire.

In the West Bank, OCHA said Israeli forces on Monday placed an estimated 25,000 Palestinians under curfew in parts of the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron city as they launched a large-scale operation. Initial reports pointed to a heavy deployment of military vehicles, snipers on rooftops and the closure of six internal roads.