Israeli-backed militias and rival clans battle Hamas fighters for power in Gaza

Bel Trew speaks to the rival armed groups, some behind Israeli lines, grappling for control of the destroyed strip

- BEL TREW IN JERUSALEM

The anti-Hamas Palestinian militiamen, speaking from behind Israeli lines in Gaza, have a message for the militants and for the world.

“We are the sons of Gaza, and young men against Hamas; now is the time to cleanse Hamas from Gaza.”

“Abu Awad”, a commander and spokesperson for Popular Forces, is talking from eastern Rafah, southern Gaza, an area occupied by Israeli forces near the border with Egypt.

Less than 10km away, Hossam al-Astal is running a different armed faction called the Counter-Terrorism Strike Force, also behind Israeli lines, this time in the east of Gaza. He tells The Independent he is already in touch with the Trump administration about postwar Gaza, and wants to work with Tony Blair. “Today, we’re the ones who are there with credibility,” he says. “We are determined and capable. In the near future, it will be us, not Hamas.”

These anti-Hamas militias, allied but part of separate fiefdoms, are two of multiple factions set up after the start of war in October 2023 that have since been accused of being armed, funded or supported by Israel.

They are now located within the “yellow” zone: an area Israeli forces withdrew to and control as part of a Donald Trump-brokered truce deal, but which makes up more than half of the destroyed strip. Both groups deny accusations of “collaborating” with Israel, but say they are “coordinating” to maintain a presence behind their lines.

As violence within Gaza has soared, they are eager to broadcast similar messaging: Hamas, wrestling to take back control of the strip, they claim, is on its way out.

After two years of Israel’s unprecedented bombardment and siege of Gaza - which has killed over 67,000 people according to local officials and destroyed swathes of land - pressure on preexisting divisions within its society has reached breaking point.