Fawzi al-Qawuqji
During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he helped organize the smuggling of arms from Iraq and Lebanon to the Arab Liberation Army under Fawzi al-Qawuqji. He returned to Gaza during this time period. In 1950, he founded the newspaper "Sha'ab al-Arabiya" ("The Arab Nation"). It was the mouthpiece of the Palestinians and he presided over the editing, but it ended after an eight-month circulation. Shawwa was appointed by Egyptian president Muhammad Naguib to "cleanse" Gaza of corruption and any remnants of the monarchy of Farouk of Egypt.