There is no doubt that Hamas is a monstrous organization. The October 7th attack was a sickening display of violence, fueled by a hateful ideology that has cost countless lives. But Hamas’s cruelty isn’t reserved just for its enemies; it has also targeted the Palestinian people.
In 2007, Hamas violently seized power in Gaza, driving out the Palestinian Authority government. During that brutal coup on June 10, 2007, many Palestinians were killed. After establishing its tyrannical rule, Hamas turned its aggression on Israel, launching decades of attacks that took many more lives. Hamas consistently uses its own people as human shields, retreating into its vast tunnel network after an attack and leaving civilians to face the consequences. Time and again, Hamas has sacrificed its people while ripping their liberty away.
Now, in the middle of the current conflict in Gaza, a new movement is emerging. It’s a rebellion that the news media has largely ignored, but it’s a critical sign of Palestinian resistance to Hamas.
In the city of Rafah, an admitted local gangster named Yasser Abu Shabab has reportedly defied Hamas’s authority. In an astonishing act of rebellion, he has formed a small armed group called the Popular Forces. They are reportedly fighting Hamas to liberate their people from an oppressive extremist regime and are even said to be coordinating with Israel. While Abu Shabab is not a hero, he represents a growing sentiment among Palestinians who are tired of Hamas’s tyranny.
He is not alone. In the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza City, the Khalas clan, which was brutalized during Hamas’s 2007 takeover, has also reportedly armed itself and risen up. Meanwhile, in Khan Yunis, the Khanidak clan has engaged Hamas forces in the name of their loved ones who were killed by the group. In this very month, members of the Doghmush clan gave their lives in defense of Palestinian people’s liberty in Gaza City. These guys are heroes, sacrificing everything for the nation they love.
These local groups, from both clans and other factions, are fighting for their freedom. This rebellion is a powerful statement that the Palestinian people are not defined by Hamas’s hateful ideology. These brave men and women are choosing to die on their feet rather than live on their knees under a tyrannical regime.
This movement deserves to be recognized. While Israel has reportedly provided some quiet support, the rest of the world has remained largely silent. The news media should be highlighting these courageous acts of resistance. The international community should be cheering on these freedom fighters, who are proving that the true Palestinian nation is one that fights for liberty, not for terror. They are the ones who deserve to be heard.
These men and women, through their courage, I dare say have earned the right to determine Palestine’s nature. Their obvious pro-Israel stance through coordinating with Israel against Hamas means they aren’t a threat to their neighbors. Their rejection of Hamas’s nature makes them a wind of change.
In a heavily tribal society which is made of vast family groupings, with tens of thousands of members bounded by a shared surname which is a person’s primary loyalty in Gaza, isn’t it wise that future governance of Gaza represents such clannish tendency in Gaza?
The nationalist call of the former called PTO now Fatah in the West Bank and the religious claim of Hamas in Gaza . Both failed to unite Palestine. Which suggests clan loyalty always re-emeges. Why not use this natural tendency as rather a obstacle to be destroyed . The very step toward a Palestine state which can live with Israel in peace.
Especially as the suppression of the clan system led to Hamas’s rise, where in Gaza rogue street imams undermined clan leaders, including its founder Ahmed Yassin (may his name be cursed as many now say in Gaza). He, like the rest, was a con man who had limited formal training as an imam and wasn’t ever granted the right to preach by religious authorities, especially as their founder was the equivalent of a seminary school dropout.
His claim was religious loyalty should replace clan loyalty to secure a Palestinian nation. His argument was religion brings Palestinian people unity to their nation . Such unity would strengthen Palestine claim for independence and nationhood. He twisted the Islamic faith through demanding devotion to obeying his commands, not religious texts or beliefs. This paved the way for a tyrannical theocratic rule based on a twisted, corrupted form of Islam.
Part of breaking Hamas and other terrorist groups’ hold on Gaza is restoring the clannish system natural to Gaza. So the clan resistance, the natural liberation force of Gaza, must be the foundation of a new Israel-friendly government of Gaza, especially as it is the clansmen and women of Gaza who are fighting Hamas’s tyranny.
Even though I believe the peace plan championed by President Trump, which includes a temporary technocratic government, in the short term is the best course for rebuilding Gaza. I do believe in the long term, especially after reconstruction, only an assembly of Gaza clans can, through Palestine’s natural fidelity to family, bring stability to Gaza. Probably through an assembly of the clans where each family and its protectorate smaller familys has a seat picked by the members of that clan.
This reality could be made a very quick reality if the United States and allies offered the Palestinian clans with good intent toward us and Israel weaponry, funds, and other forms of aid. Such funds could be transferred out of recently canceled foreign aid to help end the region-wide destabilizing force of Hamas and highlight how theocratic regimes can be overthrown in the Middle East, offering an example of hope which could eventually shake Iran and Afghanistan.
Obviously, careful vetting of who we give arms to is a necessity, despite past mistakes, especially during the Soviet-Afghan war which would lead to the arming of future enemies who would become the Taliban. With careful vetting of who we once again make the arsenal of liberty
