Emerging Militias in Gaza Challenge Hamas Amid Peace Talks

Fri Nov 21 2025 15:20:42 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a shifting landscape in Gaza, various armed groups, some supported by Israel, are positioning themselves to play a role under a proposed peace plan, raising concerns about their influence and the future of governance in the region.

As armed groups gain momentum in Gaza following the conflict with Hamas, their potential integration into future security structures poses a complex challenge for both Palestinian governance and international peace efforts. Groups like the Popular Forces and the Counter-Terrorism Strike Force are declaring roles under the US-backed peace plan, creating divisions among Gazans who remain wary of their allegiances and intentions.

Urgent questions are being raised over a patchwork of armed groups that have emerged to fight Hamas in Gaza over recent months. They include groups based around family clans, criminal gangs, and new militia – some of which are backed by Israel, as its prime minister recently admitted.

Elements within the Palestinian Authority - which governs parts of the occupied West Bank and is a political rival to Hamas - are also believed to be covertly sending support. But these militia - each operating in its own local area inside the 53% of Gaza's territory currently controlled by Israeli forces - have not been officially included in the US President Donald Trump's peace plan, which calls for an International Stabilisation Force and a newly-trained Palestinian police force to secure Gaza in the next stage of the deal.

One of the largest militia is headed by Yasser Abu Shabab, whose Popular Forces operate near the southern city of Rafah...

Hossam al-Astal, who leads a militia called the Counter-Terrorism Strike Force near the southern city of Khan Younis, told Israeli media this week that US representatives had confirmed his group would have a role in Gaza's future police force. A US official said they had nothing to announce at this time...

Hossam al-Astal once worked for the Palestinian Authority. His group is small - maybe tens of fighters - but is increasingly confident, and runs a well-supplied tent city near Khan Younis...

But many Gazans - including those disillusioned with Hamas - are unhappy with the new power given to these small and fragmented armed groups. Only a small number of men who have no religion, faith, or ethics have joined these criminals, said Saleh Sweidan, who is currently living in Gaza City.

Several armed groups are now ranged against Hamas, with complex and overlapping ties. ...Israel's decision to back the enemies of their enemy in Gaza is a sign they have not learned from history, according to Michael Milshtein, formerly the head of Palestinian affairs for Israel's military intelligence...