RSS
PA, Hamas Vie for Support of Palestinian Clans
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas visiting the West Bank city of Jenin. Photo: Reuters/Mohamad Torokman
JNS.org – The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are competing to win the support of large Palestinian clans in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The competition comes in the wake of the talk about handing control over the Gaza Strip to local clans after the removal of Hamas from power.
The P.A. and Hamas understand that the backing of the clans is crucial for maintaining their control over the Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. That’s why P.A. and Hamas leaders have always treated the large families and their leaders with utmost respect. In some instances, clan leaders were elevated to the unofficial position of supreme judges and arbitrators, replacing the official judiciary and law enforcement of both organizations.
The Israel-Hamas war has undermined the Iran-backed terror group’s grip over the Gaza Strip. Hamas is no longer functioning as a de facto government in the coastal enclave, and most of its security and civilian institutions are in a state of paralysis.
The assumption among some Israelis and Palestinians is that the decline in Hamas’s power would pave the way for the re-emergence of the clans as significant players in the Gaza Strip.
According to sources in the Gaza Strip, a few clans affiliated with the P.A. and its ruling Fatah faction have begun challenging Hamas over the past few weeks. These clans, known to have dozens of armed members, began operating their own enforcers in some towns and refugee camps in the Gaza Strip to prevent looting and other acts of anarchy and lawlessness. At least one clan was reportedly involved in escorting some of the trucks loaded with humanitarian aid that entered the Gaza Strip through Egypt and Israel.
Alarmed by the possibility that some of the families in the Gaza Strip may start cooperating with Israel or the P.A., Hamas leaders have been pressuring clan leaders to declare their support for the terror group publicly. Indeed, a statement issued by several clans in the Gaza Strip recently announced that they stand behind Hamas and the Palestinian “resistance” groups.
The P.A. leadership, for its part, has also been working to gain the backing of the clans, especially those in the Gaza Strip. In recent weeks, P.A. officials in Ramallah have been exerting pressure on the leaders of several Gaza clans not to cooperate with either the Israel Defense Forces or Hamas.
On March 4, 2024, the P.A.’s official media reported that “Palestinian tribes have renewed their pledge of allegiance and support for the sole, legitimate, political leadership represented by President Mahmoud Abbas.”
According to the report, the “tribes stressed their rejection of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s plan, which aims to form a civil administration in the Gaza Strip on the day after the war.”
On the same day, P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, in opening remarks at the weekly meeting of the Palestinian Cabinet, thanked Palestinian clans in the Gaza Strip for allegedly refusing to cooperate with Israel.
How many clans signed on to the statement pledging allegiance to the 88-year-old Abbas is unclear. It is also not clear whether these clans represent a large portion of the Palestinian public in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A single clan could have more than one leader—some affiliated with the P.A. and others with Hamas.
What is clear, however, is that the clans will be required to play some role in the administration of the Gaza Strip after the war. Hamas may try to hide behind them as part of an attempt to return to power. Similarly, the P.A. is expected to step up its pressure on the Gaza clans to distance themselves from both Israel and Hamas.
Palestinians have been calling the P.A.-Hamas struggle to control the clans harb al-ashaer (war of the tribes). Both the P.A. and Hamas seem to understand that their success is tied to the clan leaders.
Originally published by The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
The post PA, Hamas Vie for Support of Palestinian Clans first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.