Israel’s war on Gaza has not ended with the pullback of its tanks or the falling silent of its warplanes. Tens of thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands of homes reduced to rubble, and some two million people driven from their homes. Yet the greatest danger may still lie ahead, for Israel intends to continue the war in another form, one that no longer requires its army.
In the vacuum left by Israel’s destruction, a grim new reality is unfolding. Armed militias are emerging, exploiting the collapse of social order and the deepening suffering of the people. These groups, which once claimed the mantle of “resistance” to the occupier, are increasingly turning their weapons inward. Rather than working to aid the defence of the homeland, they are seeking to impose control through violence, turning Palestinian pain into a currency for factional and political gain. Gaza, long under siege, once lived in suffocating isolation yet remained largely safe within its own walls. People feared Israeli air attacks, not criminal gangs or the gun of a neighbour. Today, fear has multiplied, from the occupation and from within.
The killing of journalist Saleh Aljafarawi in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood stands as one of the most ominous signs of this new phase. The 28-year-old reporter, who had long documented Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and faced repeated death threats for his work, was shot dead days after the ceasefire, not by Israeli soldiers or drones but by Palestinian gunmen. His murder exposed the war’s continuation by other means: Israel has turned Palestinians against each other, spurring a cycle of fear and bloodshed that serves its occupation even in the absence of its soldiers.
Israel’s logic here is clear. It has long relied on an old colonial strategy: Divide and rule. A society consumed by internal violence cannot stand united against its occupier. By cynically fostering the rise of militias, Israel achieves two aims: Weakening Palestinian unity and reducing the burden on its own army. It avoids direct costs and international scrutiny, while Gaza continues to bleed from within.
The armed gangs now spreading fear in Gaza are not defenders of the homeland but Israel’s collaborators, serving its occupation under a different name. They were empowered during the war to act where Israel could not always act openly. Yet Israel’s history with Palestinians who serve its interests is clear: It uses them, then discards them. Once their purpose is fulfilled, collaborators are cast aside, disarmed or destroyed, left with neither honour nor protection. He who turns his gun on his own people may think himself powerful, but his fate is always the same: Rejection by his people, by history and even by the occupier who once used him.
For Palestinians, the consequences are nothing short of catastrophic. Liberation cannot be built on fear. When resistance loses its moral clarity, when it becomes indistinguishable from oppression, it collapses in legitimacy. The Palestinian cause has never been only about survival; it has always been about dignity, justice and freedom. These values cannot endure in a society where citizens fear not only Israeli aircraft but also armed locals who now terrorise their streets, serving both their own interests and the occupier’s. The region’s history bears witness: From Lebanon to Iraq, external powers have repeatedly exploited militias to fragment societies. Once unleashed, these forces rarely serve their people; their loyalties drift instead towards factional power, personal gain or foreign patrons.
The task before Palestinians is both urgent and existential: To prevent Gaza from sliding into a land ruled by militias rather than united under the banner of liberation. This requires a strong civilian will that refuses to legitimise such groups, political leadership that places national unity above factional interest, and international awareness that occupation destroys not only through bombs and siege, but also by tearing apart the social fabric and turning society into a battlefield of internal conflict.
The people of Gaza have already shown extraordinary courage and resilience. They have endured siege, relentless bombardment and mass displacement. They should not now be asked to endure the humiliation of being ruled by armed gangs who serve their own interests while claiming to act for their people. The strength of the Palestinian struggle has always rested on its moral clarity, a people demanding freedom against all odds. That clarity must not be surrendered to those who replace solidarity with fear and justice with domination.
Israel may hope to wage its war by proxy, imagining a Gaza where its people fight each other instead of resisting occupation. Yet Palestinians still have a choice. They can reject the path of militias and affirm that their cause is greater than any faction and stronger than those who place power above principle. The true danger today is not only Israeli air attacks but the erosion of the very essence of Palestinian nationalism: The conviction that liberation must belong to everyone and must never come at the cost of freedom or human dignity.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.