GAZA'S LIVING GASPS : PRECIS

Since the cease-fire, Hamas's government has attempted to impose some sense of security, sending police forces to the streets, directing traffic, protecting aid trucks and offering a degree of law and order, residents say.

On Monday in Gaza-City, a senior official of in the Hamas-run Interior Ministry identified as Gen. Mohamoud Abu Watla toured the city center in plain clothes as Gazan journalists took pictures of armed internal security forces participating in a procession.

'' The picture is clear,'' General Abu Watfa told a reporter. '' The ones controlling security, protecting citizens and safeguarding the internal front are the forces of the Interior Ministry.''

Challenges are still evident. An official in Hamas's internal security service, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, noted that many security workers in Gaza City were using paper records instead of computers, and some were going to work at a bombed-out headquarters by foot after Israel destroyed almost every police car in the city.

The World Students Society thanks Adam Rasgon [ Jerusalem ] Iyad Abuheweila [ Istanbul ]. Patrick Kingsley, Ronen Bergman and Aaron Boxerman.