In brief
In the midst of ongoing conflict in Gaza, new armed groups have emerged to challenge Hamas, leading to uncertainty regarding their future roles under US peace initiatives. While some militia leaders express optimism about integration into a new policing force, many Gazans criticize these groups as illegitimate, raising concerns about their backing by Israel and foreign interests. Historical parallels to past US interventions and the complexities of local governance further complicate the narrative.
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.
In one recent social media video, his deputy talks about working in co-ordination with the Board of Peace - the international body to be tasked with running Gaza under the plan.
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.
Earlier this month, Astal grinned when I asked if he had spoken to the Americans about the future, and told me he would share the details soon.
Yes, he said, with a big smile.
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.
Let's say it's not the right time for me to answer this question, Astal smiled when I asked if Israel was supplying him. But we co-ordinate with the Israeli side to bring in food, weapons, everything.
He told me tens of families had come to live in his new site, just inside the Yellow Line that marks the territory currently controlled by Israel under the ceasefire deal - and that more people were arriving every week.
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.
Thirty-one year old Montaser Masoud told me he had joined al-Astal's new tent city two months ago with his wife and four children, crossing the Yellow Line at night to avoid Hamas, and after coordination with Israeli forces.
Several armed groups are now ranged against Hamas, with complex and overlapping ties. But the question of what will happen to Gaza's new militia under a durable peace still remains unanswered.
