25-07-2025
Gazans Are Finished With Hamas
While most of Gaza continues to suffer under the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel, things are very different for thousands living in eastern Rafah—for us, the war is already over.
The Popular Forces, an independent Palestinian group under my leadership, have secured several square kilometers of land that have been home to my Bedouin tribe, the Tarabin, for generations. We aren't an ideological movement, but a pragmatic one. Our primary goal is to separate Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas from the fire of war.
For the past seven weeks, our neighborhood has become the only area in Gaza governed by a Palestinian administration not affiliated with Hamas since 2007. Our armed patrols have successfully kept Hamas and other militant groups out. As a result, life here no longer feels like life in Gaza. In eastern Rafah, people have access to shelter, food, water, and basic medical supplies—all without fear of Hamas stealing aid or being caught in the crossfire with the Israeli military.
The effect has been tremendous: no more airstrike casualties, no chaotic aid lines, no evacuation orders, and no fear of booby-trapped homes or children being used as human shields by Hamas. While there is still much to improve, people now sleep at night without fear of death.
This should not be the exception in Gaza—it can be the model, the new norm. The vast majority of Gazans reject Hamas. They don't want it to remain in power after the war ends. But though they hate Hamas, they still fear it. Since protests began earlier this year calling for the group's removal, demonstrators have been killed, tortured or forced into hiding.
My own family didn't take part in those protests, but when Hamas killed my brother, Fathi Abu Shabab, and my cousin, Ibrahim Abu Shabab, for trying to secure aid for our family—and when 52 civilians under our care were murdered in their homes—I realized that silence is no longer an option. If we remain quiet now, we will never be free, cease-fire or not.
This may be our only chance to secure a future that rejects violence and embraces reason. What has prevented most Gazans from expressing their true anger at Hamas is the lack of a viable alternative. Hamas still controls aid access and dominates institutions like the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or Unrwa. Hamas still turns aid centers into hubs for its own operations. In some areas, the only thing preventing people from fleeing is the presence of Israeli troops, which might withdraw as part of a cease-fire.
No one else has been willing to step up and risk publicly breaking with Hamas. Those fears lost their meaning for me after my brother and cousin were murdered. Hamas has labeled me a criminal and collaborator, but I am not intimidated by them. I won't surrender.
Through our efforts, we have shown a glimpse of what a new Gaza could look like. We have already received requests from many families to relocate to eastern Rafah. With proper support, we are ready to take responsibility for the rest of Rafah. Within months, more than 600,000 people—nearly a third of Gaza's population—could be living outside the cycle of war.
We need only three things to make this vision a reality: financial support to prevent Hamas's return, humanitarian aid to meet the population's immediate needs for food and shelter, and safe corridors so people can move around. In a short time, we could transform most of Gaza from a war zone into functioning communities. When the rebuilding has begun, Hamas can negotiate with Israel for the release of hostages in exchange for safe passage out of Gaza. Let them go to Qatar, Turkey or wherever their enablers will have them. We don't want them among us.
What comes next for Gaza must be determined by the people themselves, a choice we have been denied for nearly two decades. For now, our focus remains on saving as many lives as possible and laying the foundations for a better future. On behalf of the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Gaza, the Popular Forces call on the U.S. and Arab countries formally to recognize and support an independent Palestinian administration under our leadership.
From eastern Rafah—where families now sleep safely under civil protection—I can see Gaza's future. The question is: Will the world help build it with us, free from the ideologies of violence and terror?
Mr. Shabab is commander of the Popular Forces in Gaza.
