In Gaza, the Clans That Have Re-Emerged Must Be Supported

The October 13, 2025, announcement that Hamas has received American approval to conduct security operations in Gaza represents a catastrophic strategic error that undermines the long-term objective of excising the terrorist organization from Gaza’s governance. President Trump’s statement that “we gave them approval for a period of time” to address lawlessness fundamentally contradicts his own 20-point peace plan’s core principle: Hamas must have no role—direct, indirect, or in any form—in Gaza’s future governance. While the remaining 19 points of the framework continue to be negotiated and implemented, this premature legitimization of Hamas’s security role virtually guarantees its complete reconstitution.

The strategic imperative remains unchanged: empowering Gaza’s clan structures, which represent 72 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents through 608 registered mukhtars and six major Bedouin confederations, to fill the governance vacuum as Hamas is systematically removed….

The Hamas Interior Ministry’s October 13 offer of amnesty to gang members who join its security forces reveals the organization’s strategy for rapid reconstitution. Every individual accepting this amnesty becomes a Hamas operative, expanding the organization’s intelligence network and territorial control under the legitimate cover of maintaining public order. The ongoing clashes in Sabra and Shuja’iyya neighborhoods between Hamas forces and independent actors demonstrate that Hamas is not preventing lawlessness, but systematically eliminating alternatives to its authority.

President Trump’s justification that “close to 2 million people going back to buildings that have been demolished” requires immediate security fundamentally misdiagnoses the problem. The security vacuum exists precisely because Hamas’s totalitarian control prevented alternative power structures from developing over 18 years of rule. Filling this vacuum with the same organization that created it, even temporarily while other framework elements are negotiated, guarantees the perpetuation of the underlying pathology that led to October 7….

The emergence of effective clan-based security forces during the conflict provides concrete evidence of their capability. Yasser Abu Shabab’s Popular Forces, with 400 fighters, successfully secured humanitarian corridors for six consecutive months. Hossam al-Astal’s Counter-Terrorism Strike Force demonstrated the ability to clear neighborhoods of Hamas cells while maintaining civilian protection. When Hamas’s Arrow Unit attempted to reassert control in October 2025, al-Mujaida clan fighters, supported by al-Astal’s forces and Israeli air cover, successfully repelled the attack. These achievements occurred despite minimal resources and constant Hamas intimidation, proving what becomes possible with proper support.

The March 2025 success of clan forces in securing World Food Programme convoys to Gaza City warehouses, ending months of systematic looting, demonstrates their ability to provide the practical security that Gaza’s population desperately needs. Unlike Hamas, whose security provision always served military objectives, clan forces focus on protecting economic activity and humanitarian operations that directly benefit their constituent populations….