Hazem Qasem is being interviewed between the makeshift tents of displaced people in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah.
Prior to the war he was an official in Gaza's Hamas-run government and would meet the media in an office in Gaza City, wearing a suit jacket.
When he speaks to the ABC earlier this month, his situation, like that of Hamas, is markedly different.
Qasem is noticeably thinner and wearing a T-shirt, yelling at children to be quiet when their voices carry through the plastic walls of nearby shelters.
He has been speaking publicly on behalf of Hamas for almost a decade, while the group governed Gaza and frequently fought Israel.
But he was not often seen during the war, when Israel was bombing the group's officials wherever they were, regardless of whether they were fighters.
Hamas is both an armed group and a political movement which many countries, including Australia, designate as a terrorist group.
It carried out the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 that killed around 1,200 people in Israel, with 251 taken hostage.
But now, after two years of bloody conflict with Israel, the militant group no longer has its government offices and tens of thousands of its fighters are dead.
However, it has quickly re-established de facto control of much of Gaza since the recent ceasefire, sending fighters back onto the streets and publicly executing members of a clan it accused of taking weapons and money from Israel.
"Those who collaborated with the occupation, and formed gangs that support the occupation army, are clearly judged according to the Palestinian revolutionary law and the Palestinian political system," Qasem tells the ABC through a trusted local journalist.
"Hamas says that it is the right of the government agencies to implement the law in a strict way on them, as they have committed a major crime of treason against the Palestinian people and against Palestine."
Like 'letting Tony Soprano run New Jersey'
Israel's government has admitted to arming and funding groups in Gaza and the Israeli military has also defended them against attacks by Hamas.
The return of Hamas to the streets was partially welcomed by some Gazans, who hoped the group would restore law and order.
The clans it attacked were also not popular and security analysts in Israel have long questioned the viability of supporting them.
"We are talking about groups that are crime families," said Oded Ailam, former head of counterterrorism for Israel's spy agency, Mossad, and now a researcher at the Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign Affairs.
"It's like letting Tony Soprano run New Jersey, so they are not very popular in Gaza."
Brutal pictures have emerged since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10 of masked men beating and executing opponents, including a gruesome video of a firing squad killing a row of kneeling men they said were members of rival groups.
Hamas's campaign has also swept up people who were not accused of working with the Israelis, including political opponents of Hamas and those who protested against the group.
Hamas officials even apologised for some of the killings of civilians, saying they were "accidents" and would be investigated.
The group's swift attempt to reassert control has dismayed those who were hoping the losses inflicted by Israel would ease the task of disarming and replacing it.
Hamas has not agreed to disarm and the ceasefire it has signed only stipulates the conditions of the hostage release and prisoner exchange.
Fluctuating support for Hamas among Gazans
Hamas has ruled Gaza with an iron fist since 2007, but has been seriously weakened during the war, with Israel killing most of its leaders.
The militant group has a history of brutality and suppressing dissent, announcing in May this year that it had executed six people and shot another 13 in the legs for alleged looting.
In recent days, the ABC has reviewed Telegram accounts claiming to be affiliated with parts of Hamas's security forces.
The accounts have uploaded graphic videos of people being viciously beaten, and in some cases having their legs broken with planks of wood.
The captions of the posts list the names of those being subjected to the brutal punishment and their alleged crimes, such as "burglary" or "truck theft".
The ABC has not verified the exact dates these videos were taken.
Throughout the conflict, many Gazans protested against Hamas, with a large number blaming the group for the death, deprivation and destruction in the strip.
As Hamas appears determined to claw back authority in Gaza in the wake of the ceasefire, many Palestinians say they are too scared to speak out because of the threat of intimidation, arrests and in some cases, deadly reprisals.
Palestinians the ABC spoke to through a local journalist about Hamas's control over Gaza were worried about their own safety.
Israel blocks all foreign journalists from entering Gaza, including the ABC. Most interviews are conducted either remotely or via trusted Palestinian journalists.
It has been difficult to gauge public opinion in Gaza as the conflict has dragged on and Israel has continued to restrict access to the enclave.
However, polling from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research has shown fluctuating support for Hamas among Gazans, at one point plunging to just 21 per cent in January this year, compared to 42 per cent after October 7, 2023.
The vast majority of Gaza residents are seeking change, according to 2024 polling by Zogby Research Services, which revealed just 7 per cent want Hamas to govern the enclave, and almost nine in 10 holding Hamas responsible for the conflict.
Hamas will disarm following political solution
Qasem said Hamas would disarm if there was a political solution that led to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"Hamas can give up the weapons if we are given our natural rights according to international law and resolutions related to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the lands occupied in 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital," he told the ABC.
"Then we can talk about giving these weapons to the bodies that will govern the Palestinian political system."
Israel has repeatedly said it will never agree to these conditions.
Meanwhile, Hamas is reportedly discussing the possibility of surrendering its rockets but keeping guns and anti-tank missiles, in case Israel invades Gazan cities again or it needs to defend itself against rival groups.
"In the situation in which Israel will break the ceasefire and resume the aggression against our people and our land, we will not have any alternative but to defend ourselves and our people by all legitimate means guaranteed by international law," Qasem said.
"The issue of the weapons … needs a Palestinian consensus and an internal debate as to how to manage the conflict between us and the [Israeli] occupation. After that, we will talk about the arrangements for these weapons.
"We can find political approaches … so we can continue with the ceasefire agreement and beginning to rebuild the Gaza Strip."
Analysts said a partial disarmament could be an interim compromise until longer-term arrangements for Gaza were determined.
"It is perfectly possible that Hamas would accept giving up their rockets because that arsenal is depleted," Erik Skare, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs who studies Hamas, told the ABC.
"It is perfectly possible that they would accept ceasing any type of arms production but that it would be able to keep small arms and anti-tank rockets, which would not threaten Israel."
Dr Skare said that "would give Hamas a sense of self-defence and it would be able to save face".
"Now, whether that is acceptable to Israel, whether that is acceptable to international policymakers and diplomats, that is another issue," he added.
"But I think we need some kind of compromise because Hamas would never accept disarming completely unless it is very tangibly connected to an Israeli withdrawal and to a Palestinian state."
Hamas claims it does not want to govern Gaza
One thing Hamas keeps repeating is that it does not want to govern Gaza in the future.
"Hamas says clearly that it does not want to be in any of the administrative arrangements that deal with governing the Gaza Strip in the so-called 'day after,'" Qasem said.
"Hamas has abandoned this matter [of governing Gaza] in a clear way, saying that it will not be part of these arrangements, and it agreed that there will be a committee of independent figures that will administer the Gaza Strip after the war."
That could see the group try to emulate Hezbollah in Lebanon, which maintains political representation in parliament, an armed wing that fights Israel and a social services wing to maintain popular support.
Dr Skare said Hamas was divided internally about what to do and its decisions also depended on what happened in Gaza.
"There are certainly those within Hamas that play with the idea of becoming a fully legal political party that can challenge the Palestinian National Authority, [and President] Mahmoud Abbas, through democratic structures," he said.
"Then you have those who feel that the disarmament would be close to signing its own treaty of Versailles — ie, surrendering — that it would be a de facto abolition of Hamas.
"I mean, Hamas is an acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement and violence is an inherent part of that resistance and of the identity of Hamas."
Lack of clarity over future Gaza leadership
As yet, there is no agreed plan for who will govern Gaza and who will secure it, as an international stabilisation force is yet to be formed.
This week, US President Donald Trump's advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, flagged a plan to only reconstruct Israeli-occupied parts of Gaza, with no reconstruction funds going to areas under Hamas control.
Israel's military retains control of 53 per cent of the strip.
"Right now, Hamas is trying to regain power, to regain its troops, to recruit new members," Mr Ailam, the former Mossad official, told the ABC.
"They just appointed three governors to rule certain areas in Gaza.
"What Hamas is trying to do right now is become a major player in what is going to happen next in the day after."
Israel is already striking Gaza again and restricting the entry of aid, accusing Hamas of breaking the ceasefire and highlighting the urgency of moving to the so-called "phase two" of the peace plan.
"We [Israel] should sit down especially with the Americans and create a coherent, robust plan and a road map for what's going to happen with Gaza as soon as possible," Mr Ailam said.
If the Trump plan does not spark a meaningful peace process and Israeli troops remain in Gaza, observers expect Hamas will stay in control and Gaza will essentially remain at war.
"If a peace track is not connected to an Israeli withdrawal, if it's not connected to a Palestinian state, and if it's not connected to an improvement of the human rights conditions of the Palestinians, then that will only cement the status quo that has proven to be quite unstable and explosive," Dr Skare said.
