Hamas and Israeli-backed militias: A looming showdown in Gaza
Hamas police forces deploy in Gaza City on 11 October 2025
Yousef Abu Watfa reports in The New Arab on 17 February, 2026
Recent threats by Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, against Israeli-backed militias operating in Gaza have raised fears about the possibility of an impending armed confrontation.
A complex network of clans, militias, and criminal gangs, some with links to the Islamic States, first came to prominence during the war on Gaza in the summer of 2024, receiving support from Israel to undermine Hamas’s authority.
Since the ceasefire in October, they have continued to operate in the 58% of Gaza under Israeli military control, reportedly receiving shelter, weapons, financing, and protection. Immediately after the truce last year, fierce clashes broke out with armed groups as Hamas sought to reassert control.
On 9 February, in a series of posts on the Telegram channel of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas issued a series of explicit threats. “The despicable acts perpetrated by these undercover collaborators against our people and their honourable resistance fighters reflect nothing but complete alignment with the occupation, the implementation of its agendas, and a division of roles with it,” Hamas military spokesperson Abu Obeida said. “The dark fate of the tools of the occupation is near, and their punishment is killing and inevitable disappearance, and the enemy will not be able to protect them from the justice of our people,” he added.
In December, Hamas announced the death of Abu Obeida in an Israeli airstrike, ending months of speculation about his fate after Israel claimed to have killed him in August 2025. His replacement also bears the name Abu Obeida.
The threats, thought to be the first of their kind issued by Hamas since the ceasefire in October, follow the growing prominence of rival armed groups and an escalation in attacks.