In the heart of Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, Hossam al-Astal stands resolute, holding the flag of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. With a determined flicker of a lighter, he sets the flag ablaze, its green fabric quickly consumed by flames as it’s doused in a flammable liquid.

As the flag burns, al-Astal declares with defiance to a live audience on social media, “Hamas is finished.” His statement is a bold proclamation aimed at resonating far beyond the borders of Gaza, as the Sunni Islamist group struggles to maintain its grip on power following a U.S.-mediated ceasefire that temporarily halted conflict with Israel.

Al-Astal leads an anti-Hamas militia known as the Strike Force Against Terror, part of a coalition of at least five groups collectively referred to as the ‘Popular Forces.’ These groups are united in their mission to challenge Hamas’s rule and forge what they envision as a ‘new Gaza.’

While his militia receives support from Israel, al-Astal is quick to clarify his stance. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he asserts, “Everything we do is for the Palestinian child to live, and to learn, and to prosper,” distancing his motivations from any alignment with the Jewish state. His words reflect a vision of hope and renewal for the region, even as the struggle for power continues.

He is the leader of an anti-Hamas militia called Strike Force Against Terror, one of at least five groups collectively named the ‘Popular Forces’ attempting to fight the militant group and establish a ‘new Gaza’.

His militia is supported by Israel, but al-Astal insists that he doesn’t work for the Jewish state, telling the Daily Mail: ‘Everything we do is for the Palestinian child to live, and to learn, and to prosper.’

The clan leader has suffered at the hands of both sides of the conflict over the years: he was tortured and imprisoned several times by Hamas when the group took over the Strip in 2007, and has had his home bombed amid the war with Israel – whose airstrikes killed his pregnant daughter in April.

From his headquarters in the village of Kizan al-Najjar, he distributes food and aid to Gazans and says he provides military defense when Hamas operatives threaten the civilian population.

‘Collecting the people and gathering them to fight with us is actually very simple,’ he says.

‘Thousands of people in Gaza have felt the injustice of Hamas… People are fighting, if not for themselves, but for their children, and trying to save them.’

The bloody tactics Hamas is prepared to wield against anyone who questions their authority are well known.

Ever since the ceasefire, violent clashes have broken out between the militants and perceived rivals like the Doghmush family – a powerful clan based in al Sabra, who said at least 28 of its members were killed by Hamas operatives in recent months.

‘Hamas is known for shooting activists and journalists in the legs to instill fear,’ says Hadeel Oueis, a researcher at the Washington Institute and director of Arabic Communications at the Centre for Peace Communications.

‘By targetting the legs, the group often leaves its victims permanently disabled and unable to walk again.’

Hamas also resorts to ‘severe beatings and physical torture with sticks, and in some cases, public executions – as witnessed in recent weeks,’ she told the Daily Mail.

Horrifying footage has emerged on social media which showed kneeling Palestinians being executed by gunshot by militants in public squares, after they were accused of ‘collaborating’ with Israel.

In one video, there were chants of ‘Allah Akbar,’ or ‘God is Great,’ in the background as a cheering crowd watched on.

Few people are more aware of the threat Hamas poses to the civilian population than Abed Mohammed, a 43-year-old political activist from Gaza City opposed to the group.

Since Hamas seized power of the enclave, Mohammed has been kidnapped, assaulted and arrested multiple times, and has been ‘increasingly targeted and pursued’ in the wake of the ceasefire.

‘Since the ceasefire, Hamas has become more violent, killing without investigation, breaking limbs, and firing bullets at feet,’ he told the Daily Mail.

Once prisoners are detained, they are subjected to ‘torture, shackling and prolonged sleep deprivation’. 

But despite the horrific tactics Hamas wields against opponents being well-known, clan leader al-Astal isn’t afraid of standing up to the militant group.

‘They try to attack us, but we resist, and every time they attack us, they lose. We are not under Hamas’ control, so they cannot disarm us, they have no authority over us.’ 

Al-Astal, born in Khan Younis, is a former member of the Palestinian Authority which lost control of Gaza when Hamas seized power in 2007.

‘We reject the term “militia”: We are a popular force led by the people, to protect the people of Gaza,’ he says.

Between 2007-2010, he says he was imprisoned and tortured by Hamas on multiple occasions, accused of financial corruption.

After 2010, he fled and spent the next 11 years abroad, working for the PA’s security services in Egypt and Malaysia. 

When he returned, he was accused of being tied to the 2018 assassination in Malaysia of Hamas operative Fadi al-Batsh, and sentenced to death.

At his encampment in Kizan al-Najjar, he is inviting displaced Gazans to live under his protection, where he says he provides them with food, water, shelter, and freedom from Hamas.

He says he has enlisted ‘hundreds’ of Gazans to join his anti-Hamas movement – including women and children. 

He admits that his militia receives ‘assistance’ from Israel, particularly in terms of food.

But his weapons, mainly Kalashnikov rifles, are purchased from former Hamas fighters on the black market, he says.

Meanwhile, ammunition and vehicles are reportedly delivered through the Kerem Shalom border crossing after coordination with the Israeli army.

As well as al-Astal’s, reports suggest Israel is backing four other anti-Hamas militia leaders in the Strip.

There’s clan leader Yasser Abu Shabab – a Bedouin commander in eastern Rafah near the border with Egypt, Rami Halas in a-Shuja’iyeh, Gaza City, Ashraf al Mansi in the north, and a new fledgling group in central Gaza.

The groups are engaging in combat with Hamas when they attempt to threaten the civilian population as part of a bloody crackdown on dissenters, rivals or those thought to be ‘collaborating’ with the Jewish state.

In June, the terrorist group was reported to have killed 50 fighters from the ‘Popular Forces’.

The clan leader is operating a kilometre and a half from the al-Mawasi area, where Israel has sought to direct most displaced Gazans.

His region is still under Israeli control, behind what’s been called the ‘yellow line’ – the boundary for Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troop deployments established by the ceasefire plan.

Approximately 50 per cent of the Strip is still under Israeli control, but Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan indicates further withdrawals of Israeli troops, to around 40 per cent and then 15 per cent, with a final stage concluding in a ‘security perimeter’ that would ‘remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat’.

Al-Astal is clear that eventually, it should be Palestinian leadership ruling the enclave.

‘We do not have any problem with any Palestinian who is capable of helping us against the oppression of Hamas,’ he says.

After 18 years of rule, he would accept ‘anyone from Ramallah, from the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas – it does not matter’.

‘The important thing is we want a new Gaza without war, a new Gaza without terrorism,’ he says.

Al-Astal is eager to work with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been touted as a member of a new international ‘Board of Peace’ chaired by Trump, which would oversee a transitional technocratic committee made up of Palestinians and international experts governing the Strip.

In September, Trump announced a multinational, 200-strong task force of troops that would be stationed in Israel to support stabilisation efforts in Gaza, composed of personnel from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

But al-Astal says he won’t work with Turkey or Qatar, ‘because they support and fund Hamas’, he says, including its leadership abroad where they have enjoyed immunity.

Meanwhile, a U.S. proposal to provide a United Nations mandate for an international stabilisation force in Gaza is facing opposition from Russia, China and some Arab countries, which have expressed unease about a yet-to-be established board that would temporarily govern the territory and the lack of any transitional role for the Palestinian Authority.

Al-Astal’s nieces and nephews have died by Israeli airstrikes, multiple family members have been blinded, but throughout our conversation he consistently blames Hamas for such incidents, accusing the group of using civilians as human shields.

‘The death of every woman and child inside Gaza is because Hamas does not care at all about the people,’ he insists.

His words echo the sentiment of Moumen al-Natour, a Gazan lawyer and the anti-Hamas activist behind the 2019 ‘We Want to Live’ movement, who has been imprisoned and tortured by the terrorist group over 20 times because of his protests.

‘Everyone is suffering. People have lost their homes, their money, everything. We’re seeing civilians leaving Gaza City without a place to stay, without money: from nothing to nothing,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘Most of the population of the Gaza Strip hate Hamas and want rid of them,’ he said. 

The extent to which the majority of Gazans desire new leadership is debated.

According to a recent poll carried out by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, in Ramallah and the Strip, the majority (70 per cent) of people are opposed to any steps to disarm Hamas.

According to the poll, which surveyed 1,200 people between October 22-25, more than half (53 per cent) said they still support Hamas’s decision to launch the October 7 attacks.

About 60 percent of Gazans support Trump’s plan to end the war, while the same percentage of West Bankers oppose it.

After two years of war with Israel, the terrorist group has no-doubt weakened, with key commanders assassinated and thousands of soldiers killed.

Despite this, they show no sign of agreeing to disarm and decommission their weapons – as is stipulated in Trump’s peace plan.

In a letter to the U.S. president accepting the first phase of the deal, the terror group said it was committed to being part of a ‘comprehensive Palestinian national framework’ – indicating a future in the enclave.

Meanwhile, officials have previously refused to disarm until an independent Palestinian state is established first.

For some experts, Israel-backed militias such as al-Astal’s risk fuelling division and instability in the enclave, posing a threat to the fragile ceasefire.

‘Israel’s military campaign has degraded the group’s conventional capabilities and turned it into an underground guerrilla force, but no clear alternative has emerged to replace its governance functions,’ wrote Neomi Neumann, an adjunct fellow at the Washington Institute.

‘In this vacuum, Israel has been engaging with local tribal actors as part of an improvised effort aimed primarily at undermining Hamas, with the additional objectives of stabilising the area and enabling humanitarian aid distribution.’

However, without strict oversight, the groups could ‘morph into rogue actors who fuel instability rather than mitigate it,’ she warned.

‘Tribal militias in Gaza can offer limited tactical help if they are carefully monitored and managed,’ she wrote, but relying on them is just another way of deferring the formulation of a legitimate ‘day after’ political plan in the enclave.

Mohammed agrees. ‘I support the establishment of civilised rule with international training and the formation of a government,’ he says.

‘This does not mean opposition to the militias, but it is not enough to change the reality.’ 

The ceasefire recently reached a crisis point when Israel accused Hamas of delaying the recovery of the dead hostages’ bodies – and even faking the recovery of remains by burying and digging up a corpse.

The IDF then launched a series of deadly strikes across the Strip, killing 104, after two soldiers were killed in the southern city of Rafah in an attack it blamed on Hamas.

Only time will tell whether both sides can move on to next stage of the ceasefire and begin planning the political future of Gaza, or whether fighting will erupt once again – making peace a distant dream.

The IDF did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment about its involvement in the Gaza militias.