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FIRST ON FOX: As Hamas uses the ceasefire to regroup and reassert control across parts of Gaza, a small number of emerging Palestinian militias say they are trying to form an alternative force inside the enclave. One of their leaders, Shawqi Abu Nasira, told Fox News Digital the pause in fighting has become a “kiss of life” for Hamas and warned the group is rebuilding.
“Hamas works for Iran,” he said. “They got weakened, yes, true, but the ceasefire, they gave them a kiss of life, and they are now preparing themselves better, trying to equip themselves. They are opening their own centers,” and added, “I’d like to thank President Trump for freezing the assets of Hamas and for labeling the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.”
Abu Nasira, a former senior Palestinian Authority police official who spent 16 years in an Israeli prison, is now operating with a small band of fighters on the eastern side of Gaza’s “yellow line,” in territory under Israeli military control. “I moved to the east of a yellow line, to the area that is now [controlled by the] Israeli Army. I was forced to move because I had no other option but to flee Hamas,” he said.
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According to Jusoor News, a pan-Arab media outlet that recently launched an English-language channel reporting on Gaza, Abu Nasira’s defection began years ago when Hamas killed his only son and “dragged his body through the Strip.” He told Jusoor that the killing and public display of the body solidified his decision to oppose Hamas.
Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2025. (Omar Al-Qatta / AFP via Getty Images)
Abu Nasira told Fox News Digital he acknowledged his own faction is small. “I have dozens of fighters now fighting with me,” he said. “We lack a lot of equipment, and we need better assistance.” But he argued that many Gazans share his view. “People that are now living in tents, people that are starved, people that are living in the street. They have no medication. These people don’t want Hamas.”
The ceasefire has exposed a chaotic landscape of militias, clan groups and local networks that have emerged as Hamas’s control weakened. Although none rival Hamas in size or capability, several factions have gained visibility.
These include the Popular Forces in Rafah, the Popular Army in northern Gaza, the Counter-Terrorism Strike Force in Khan Yunis and the Shujaiya Popular Defense Forces in eastern Gaza City, along with powerful clan-based networks such as the al-Majayda and Doghmosh families. Their alliances shift frequently, and their structure varies widely, but all have appeared or strengthened during the breakdown of centralized rule.
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Overview of anti-Hamas militias and local armed groups active in Gaza. (Jusoor News)
Abu Nasira said many of these groups are in contact. “They are our brothers and sisters,” he said. “All of these people, they are holding arms and fighting Hamas for a reason, because they were the first witness to Hamas terrorism and they are victims of Hamas.”
He said early efforts are underway to unite the factions. “We are coordinating all of these groups together to work under one political umbrella, and they can act as a National Guard for East Gaza,” he said.
Abu Nasira argued that Palestinians, not outside powers, should be the ones to remove Hamas from Gaza. “We can now, as Palestinians, attack them,” he said. “We just need the support in order to win this war, and we can finish it in a few months.”
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Shawqi Abu Nasira, an emerging anti-Hamas militia leader in Gaza. (Jusoor News)
He rejected the idea that Gazans would fear being labeled collaborators. “Whenever you say no to Hamas, you are accused as an operator, or you will be executed,” he said. “Everybody in Gaza knows that, so that’s not going to scare us anymore.”
In a message to Americans, Abu Nasira said the stakes go beyond Gaza. “Fighting terror is a campaign that we all should fight against,” he said. “It can spread from Gaza to all over the world.”
He described Hamas as part of a broader network. “As long as the triangle of Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic Republic in Iran are working all together, that is a threat to the entire human, civilized world,” he said.
Hamas gathers in a show of strength during a parade by the terror group in Gaza on Jan. 25th, 2025. (TPS-IL)
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He dismissed the concept known as the “Disneyland strategy,” which envisions building functioning civilian zones east of the yellow line to inspire pressure against Hamas over time. “This is a good, nice talk, but this is a long term,” he said. “We don’t need to give them the time to get strong.”
As Hamas regains strength under the ceasefire, Abu Nasira said Palestinians “are ready” and “want to fight for our future,” insisting that with international backing, a unified alternative can still be built.