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With police absent in Gaza, vigilante groups arrive on the streets
Heads turned as the masked men with clubs walked down a Rafah street, part of a vigilante public security group set up by armed factions in Gaza after the civil police force went underground, saying it was targeted by Israeli strikes.
A group of nine of the men, their headbands reading “People’s Protection Committees” bound around ski masks or hoods, strode through a marketplace this week after first appearing around Rafah late last month.
“We want to control the street to ensure that there is still safety in the country… We are present in the streets to control the streets from all sources of trouble existing in the Palestinian street now,” one said.
The group was formed by the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, along with other political factions that had a street presence in Gaza, and was tasked with ensuring public order and stopping price hikes by market profiteers, he said.Reuters was unable to reach a spokesperson for the Gaza Interior Ministry, which has stopped operating normally since the war began. Spokespeople for Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and another major faction did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
When the vigilantes first appeared in markets, with some brandishing assault rifles, dozens of youths gathered around to whistle, clap, and chant “God is Great” in support, witnesses said.
But while some Rafah residents appeared to welcome the emergence of the People’s Protection Committees to tackle lawlessness and war profiteers, others seemed worried at the idea of armed, masked men taking over policing.
“Maybe if we had real policemen without masks, people who are known to the people, it would be more organized and more comfortable,” said a father-of-four Reuters reached by phone in Rafah.
None of the people Reuters spoke to wanted to be identified by their full names. The vigilantes feared being identified by Israel or by the clans of profiteers whose goods they had seized, one person said. People backing the vigilantes were worried that Israel would see them as Hamas supporters.
Those who voiced concern about them were worried about angering the group or the factions that support it, they said.
Profiteering
Hamas, whose deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 triggered the conflict, has run Gaza since 2006, including overall control over the civil police force.
Officials from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, have said uniformed municipal police in Gaza have refused to escort aid convoys after a number of police were killed in Israeli strikes.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it was attacking police.
The conflict has led to intense shortages of all goods in Gaza, with Israel allowing only humanitarian aid into the enclave, trickling in at a far slower rate than food and medicine did before the conflict.
Prices have rocketed, infuriating a population in which almost everybody has already lost their home and now live, destitute, in tents or other temporary shelters with few possessions beyond the clothes they wear.
“The ministry of economy sets the price of every good which everyone should follow, including big traders even before smaller ones,” said one of the masked men.
They issue warnings to traders whose prices are too high and confiscate the goods of repeat offenders to sell at the set rate, he said.
“They are answering our call to protect us against high prices,” said Akram, a Rafah resident infuriated by the rampant inflation who had to quit smoking because a single cigarette cost what a whole packet had done previously.
The father of four in Rafah said he had initially welcomed the idea of vigilante groups, but they had proven ineffective and were going after the wrong people, he said.
“They should focus their mission at Rafah border crossing where the goods come in and they have to press senior merchants to bring down prices,” he said.
Market traders selling goods at a high price were often displaced people who had been forced to buy their goods at inflated prices from profiteers themselves, said another Rafah resident.
“Why can’t the Economy Ministry form groups to do these campaigns and inspect markets?” he said.
Israel’s political echelon, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered the IDF to prepare for an “immediate” return to fighting in Gaza, KAN News reported on Friday evening.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this week that Israeli officials estimated that if no agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, Israel would return to fighting in Gaza in about a week and a half.
“Hamas is currently rejecting [US Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff’s proposal, so it is very difficult to make progress,” one official said.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Witkoff’s plan involves the release of half of the living hostages and the return of half of the bodies on the first day of the continued deal. The rest of the hostages and bodies would be returned on the 42nd day, which would be the final day of the ceasefire.However, some claim that the terrorist organization has not rejected the proposal. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, “Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal.”
Eyal Zamir to Gaza border community heads: We’re preparing to fight
On his first day as the new IDF chief of staff on Thursday, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir told heads of local councils from the Gaza border communities that “we are preparing to return to fighting” in Gaza.
“We must defeat Hamas,” Zamir said. “We are also preparing to resume fighting. The hostages are our top priority.”
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.
Negotiations over the continued release of hostages held in Gaza have stalled, and “right now there is nothing happening,” sources familiar with details of the talks admitted in conversation with The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“Right now, there’s nothing happening,” an Israeli official told the Post, adding that “Hamas is currently rejecting the Witkoff proposal, so it is very difficult to make progress.”
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the Witkoff plan involves the release of half of the living hostages and the return of half of the bodies on the first day of the deal. The second half of the hostages and bodies would be returned on the 42nd day, which would be the final day of the ceasefire.
On the other hand, some claim that Hamas has not rejected the proposal. “Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal,” said a source with knowledge of the negotiations with the Post.“Hamas has said it is willing to negotiate and has not rejected the plan. Since Israel currently states that this is the proposal on the table, from Israel’s perspective, Hamas has rejected it.”
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff not expected to visit Israel soon, source says
An Israeli source told the Post that there is no expectation for Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, to visit the region at the moment, adding, “He will only come to finalize a deal. And since there is no real progress right now, it is unclear when or if he will arrive.”
Without an agreement on the release of additional hostages in the coming days, Israeli sources say Israel is preparing to escalate its actions against Hamas. After the decision on Sunday to stop humanitarian aid, Israel is preparing to cut off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip, as well as resume fighting – some say this might happen, without a deal, as early as next week.
Israeli officials suggest that even without accepting the Witkoff initiative, Hamas might agree to release additional hostages in the near future in exchange for the release of terrorists from prison and the entry of caravans and humanitarian aid, but they add that this also depends on other issues.
“The Israeli government needs to decide what will be negotiated with Hamas and what they will receive in exchange for the release of hostages in the coming weeks,” said an Israeli source. “Hamas’s agreement to release more hostages depends on the answers to these questions.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Israel responded to the mediators’ request to allow a few more days of negotiations. Katz added,d “If Hamas does not release the hostages soon, the gates of Gaza will be locked and the gates of hell will be opened – we will return to fighting, and they will face the IDF with forces and methods they have never encountered before.”
Israeli officials suggest that even without accepting the Witkoff initiative, Hamas might agree to release additional hostages in the near future in exchange for the release of terrorists from prison and the entry of caravans and humanitarian aid, but they add that this also depends on other issues. “The Israeli government needs to decide what will be negotiated with Hamas and what they will receive in exchange for the release of hostages in the coming weeks,” said an Israeli source. “Hamas’s agreement to release more hostages depends on the answers to these questions.”
No progress has been made in the ceasefire talks in Cairo, and Israel is reaching a dead end, a source familiar with the details of the negotiations told The Jerusalem Post Saturday.
There were lots of technical discussions but no results, the source added.
Israel and mediating countries believe that only the Trump administration can perhaps break the talks out of the impasse.
“When [US Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff arrives, things may happen. Everyone is waiting for him,” the source said.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a meeting on the hostage deal in the next several hours with senior officials and the negotiation team, an Israeli official told the Post.
Hamas refusing Israeli proposal to extend phase one of deal
Hamas is refusing the idea of extending the first phase of the deal, Israeli officials said.
The Israeli and Qatari delegations arrived in Cairo on Thursday. The delegation is led by Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing Persons, Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, as well as “M,” an anonymous officer from the Shin Bet. M is the former deputy of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who is reportedly no longer part of the hostage deal negotiating team.
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