ALGEMEINER
‘New Gaza’ Rises: Anti-Hamas Militias Backed by Israel Claim Local Rule, Vow to Fight Qatar, Turkey, Iran Forces
Debbie Weiss
October 30, 2025

As Gaza’s ceasefire holds uneasily, four Israel-backed militias fighting Hamas are moving to fill the power vacuum, pledging to cooperate with most international forces involved in rebuilding the enclave but vowing to resist any presence from Qatar, Turkey, or Iran, The Algemeiner has learned.  The militias, mainly in southern Gaza, are not part of US President Donald Trump’s proposed plan for a technocratic administration in the enclave.  Based in Khan Younis, Hossam al-Astal, commander of the Counter Terrorism Strike Force, said his group and three allied militias had coordinated in recent weeks to secure areas vacated by Hamas, the terrorist group that until the latest with Israel had solely ruled Gaza since 2007, and were ready to take on civil and security responsibilities once reconstruction begins. READ MORE

AXIOS Barak Ravid: U.S. offered Hamas militants safe passage out of Israel-controlled Gaza zone The U.S. offered Hamas militants safe passage from areas in Gaza controlled by Israel to parts the group controls, U.S. and Israeli officials tell Axios. The goal of the U.S. proposal, which was conveyed to Hamas on Wednesday by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, was to stabilize the ceasefire and clear the roughly half of Gaza that Israel controls of Hamas militants. No Hamas militants had actually crossed over as of Thursday night, according to a senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer. Skirmishes between Israeli forces and Hamas militants who were hiding in tunnels in the Israeli zone led to two major breakdowns in the ceasefire.  

IT’S NOON IN ISRAEL Amit Segal: The ceasefire’s restored, but was Israel’s response strong enough?  First, there was Hamas’ show of “discovering” the body of a dead hostage that was in fact remains of a hostage that Israeli forces recovered from Gaza in late 2023. Then, Hamas terrorists killed IDF soldier Yona Efraim (Efi) Feldbaum, 37, who left behind his wife and five young children. Finally, in an astonishing display of chutzpah (which is a gross understatement), Hamas claimed that it would not be returning a hostages’ body yesterday—because Israel, according to Hamas, violated the ceasefire.