Israeli-Backed Palestinian Militias Escalate Operations Against Hamas in Gaza
In a significant development in the ongoing conflict, pro-Israel Palestinian militias have intensified their operations against Hamas fighters deep within Gaza's Hamas-controlled territories. These armed groups, which are based in eastern parts of Gaza under Israeli control following an October ceasefire, have launched repeated raids, clandestine assassination missions, and abduction operations in recent months.
Increased Firepower and Aggressive Tactics
The militias appear to have substantially increased their firepower, enabling new and more aggressive attacks over the past few weeks. This escalation comes despite the outbreak of broader regional conflict involving Iran. Israeli strikes in Gaza, averaging around ten per day across the devastated territory over the last five months, have continued concurrently with Israeli bombing campaigns in Iran and Lebanon.
On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike combined with tank shelling killed six Palestinians, including two women and a girl, in separate attacks within Gaza City. Health officials reported these as the deadliest incidents in Gaza since the commencement of the US-Israeli offensive against Iran. Since the war with Iran began on 28 February, at least sixteen Palestinians have been killed by airstrikes in Gaza.
Key Militia Groups and Their Operations
The most powerful among the Israeli-backed militias are the Popular Forces, operating around the ruins of Rafah in southern Gaza, and the Strike Force Against Terror, which functions east of the shattered city of Khan Younis. Both groups have conducted strikes into Hamas-controlled territory in recent weeks. Israel has tasked these militias with security duties within its controlled zone and deployed armed men from the Popular Forces at the Rafah crossing to Egypt after it partially reopened last month.
Days later, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) issued a warning about "a pattern of ill-treatment, abuse and humiliation of returnees by Israeli forces and armed Palestinians allegedly backed by the Israeli military."
A third pro-Israeli militia based in northern Gaza, known as the Ashraf al-Mansi group, sent fighters across the "yellow line" dividing zones of control in Gaza last week. Their mission appeared to involve ambushing Hamas patrols and potentially assassinating senior Hamas figures. Hamas officials stated they foiled this attempt amid fighting in the Nasser neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Two weeks ago, the same militia clashed with Hamas fighters in Jabaliya, on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City, which remains within the Hamas-controlled zone.
Expert Analysis and Regional Implications
Nasser Khdour of Acled, an independent conflict monitor, noted, "The militia are recruiting and becoming more active against Hamas, especially in Rafah. They seem to be getting more leverage. The Popular Forces, particularly now, have more capabilities and are more experienced." Khdour added, "Hamas is launching a counteroffensive, and is trying to focus on borders and positions where the militias are based. That is one reason why the violence has gone up."
The enhanced role of these militias presents a further challenge for plans to establish an international stabilisation force in Gaza. The US-brokered Gaza ceasefire, aimed at demilitarising the territory, formally entered its second phase in January. However, progress had stalled even before the joint US-Israeli offensive against Iran and the spiralling conflict it has triggered.
Hamas, which controls most of the coastal strip where almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million population now reside, remains reluctant to fully disarm. Israel appears equally unwilling to relinquish its control over more than half of the territory.
Specific Incidents and Militia Activities
The Popular Forces have also been deployed against Hamas militants holding out in a tunnel complex near Rafah. In January, the group posted footage of its leader, Ghassan al-Duhaini, with a captured semi-naked, injured Hamas commander. On camera, Duhaini slapped the captive and addressed Hamas, declaring, "Your terrorism is over. We'll fight with force and won't allow anyone to sabotage efforts for peace." He later threatened to execute the captive.
These pro-Israeli militia groups, with a collective strength of only a few hundred fighters, have been utilised for attacks deep into the Hamas-controlled coastal strip. The Popular Army, another Israel-supported militia comprising around thirty fighters, recently assassinated a senior officer of a Hamas police unit that targets collaborators.
According to reliable analysts and reports from Gaza, Hamas militants chased the attackers as they returned to the Israeli-controlled zone from the scene of the attack in the coastal al-Mawasi area. They abandoned their pursuit when targeted by Israeli drones.
In early February, Hamas claimed it had thwarted a new attack by the Strike Force inside the Hamas-controlled zone in Khan Younis, killing eleven militants. The militia denied any losses and stated it had launched a raid that killed six Hamas militants. There was no independent confirmation of either claim.
The same day, Hamas police ambushed a group of Israeli-supported armed men in Gaza City, possibly killing three and confiscating their weapons, according to local sources.
Hamas Response and Broader Conflict Statistics
Hamas appears rattled by these new attacks. The group issued a statement last month promising to eliminate the pro-Israeli militias and claiming arrests of "collaborators" allegedly assisting them. Hamas spokespeople posted on social media that the militias faced "death and annihilation."
Statistics from Acled show 265 attacks launched by Israel in the month after the October ceasefire, rising to approximately 350 each month since, reaching a total of 1,664 by mid-March. Israeli officials assert these strikes are retaliation for attacks by Hamas and infiltration attempts across the yellow line. However, many targets individuals far from any alleged ceasefire breach site, suggesting a campaign with broader strategic aims.
In one incident on 24 February, members of a pro-Israeli militia shot and killed two Palestinian men collecting wood who approached the yellow line near Beit Lahiya. More than 600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, bringing the overall total for the war to over 72,000, mostly civilians.
Expert Commentary on Stability and Popular Sentiment
Tahani Mustafa, an expert in regional armed groups and lecturer in international relations at King's College London, commented that the intensified activity of these militias in Gaza is unlikely to stabilise the devastated territory. "The problem is that these pro-Israeli gangs have not only been implicated in criminality but also are operating with an occupying force that is responsible for mass devastation and starvation. They have given Hamas an inadvertent popularity boost, not because people sympathise with Hamas ideology, but because there is no one else," Mustafa explained.
Hamas has so far remained on the sidelines of the new regional conflict, restricting its involvement to a statement welcoming the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran's supreme leader and condemning "Israeli-US aggression."
