Nearly two years ago, on December 7, 2023, the war triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel gave Hussam al-Astal a second chance at life. The former noncommissioned officer from the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, sentenced to death by the Islamist movement, was awaiting execution in the Asda prison, a sprawling ochre concrete complex whose highest windows overlook a faded amusement park and the sea to the south of the enclave. Hamas had accused him of having assassinated one of their own, an engineer, acting on orders from Israel. In late fall 2023, Asda's guards fled under Israeli bombardment, taking most of their prisoners with them. Al-Astal said he broke out of his cell three days later. Reached by phone in Gaza – where Israel prohibits foreign press from entering – he relished his luck. At 50, he has regained weight and rediscovered his sense of humor. He has become a warlord.
Al-Astal leads a militia less than one kilometer from an Israeli base that protects him. He rules over the ruins of his hometown, Khan Yunis, behind the "yellow line" that has split Gaza in two since the October 9 ceasefire. He roams the eastern sector, controlled by the Israeli army and entirely depopulated, alongside at least three other Palestinian groups funded and armed by Israel. This is a zone from which the military is supposed to withdraw in the second phase of the deal brokered by the United States.
For two years now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to use such groups and the clans from which they originate as an alternative to both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, which he no longer wants in the enclave. "Together, we represent that alternative to Hamas. We will rid Gaza of Hamas, which is responsible for all our suffering for so many years," said al-Astal. This militiaman said he protects 25 families, amounting to a few dozen fighters and their relatives. In total, he and his allies command only a few hundred men, a force far too small to rival Hamas. Their own clans have publicly disavowed them. Gazans despise these opportunists, who, via Israel's protection, have established themselves as the main organized looters of food convoys in the enclave since 2024.