[News] Inside the Hamas unit fighting Israeli-armed gangs that loot aid and facilitate displacement in Gaza

[Anti-Imperialist News]

mondoweiss.net
<https://mondoweiss.net/2025/06/inside-the-hamas-unit-fighting-israeli-armed-gangs-that-loot-aid-and-facilitate-displacement-in-gaza/?ml_recipient=156549974891430969&ml_link=156549919608407624&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2025-06-07&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+RSS+Automation>
Inside the Hamas unit fighting Israeli-armed gangs that loot aid and
facilitate displacement in Gaza By Faris Giacaman
<https://mondoweiss.net/author/faris/> and Tareq S. Hajjaj
<https://mondoweiss.net/author/tareqhajjaj/> June 6, 2025
------------------------------
[image: 200125_Gaza_HD_0034-1536x1152.jpg]
Palestinian Hamas police officers begin working to maintain security and
order during the ceasefire with Israel, Gaza City, January 20, 2025.
(Photo: Hadi Daoud/APA Images)

The Israeli military is arming gangs to combat Hamas in Gaza, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-providing-guns-to-gaza-jihadist-gang-to-bolster-opposition-to-hamas/>
on Thursday. The revelation
<https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/r1vgxs1meg> comes to light after
right-wing Israeli lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman accused Netanyahu on Israeli
public broadcaster Kan yesterday of arming a gang of hundreds of men in
Rafah as a counterweight to Hamas influence in the Strip. The Prime
Minister’s office responded
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-05/ty-article/israel-arming-isis-affiliated-anti-hamas-gaza-militia-ex-defense-chief-claims/00000197-3f88-d079-ab97-7fcdd7120000>
by saying that it was combating the Palestinian resistance group “in
various ways, on the recommendation of all heads of the security
establishment.”

Later, Netanyahu officially confirmed the reports in a video
<https://x.com/romkri/status/1930671533678092605?s=46&t=NH3HrdbozvKJsmFEZnqlGw>
posted on X. “On the advice of security officials, we activated clans in
Gaza that oppose Hamas,” the Israeli Prime Minister said. “What’s wrong
with that? It only saves the lives of Israeli soldiers.”

“Publishing this only benefits Hamas, but Lieberman doesn’t care,”
Netanyahu added.

Among these groups is an armed gang led by a man named Yasser Abu Shabab, a
thief and drug trafficker from Rafah who led groups of hundreds of armed
men in looting aid convoys during the latter half of 2024. Descended from
the influential Bedouin Tarabin clan, which spans southern Gaza, the Sinai,
and the Naqab Desert, Abu Shabab has been described by Israeli media outlets
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-05/ty-article/israel-arming-isis-affiliated-anti-hamas-gaza-militia-ex-defense-chief-claims/00000197-3f88-d079-ab97-7fcdd7120000>
as “linked to ISIS,” likely due to Abu Shabab’s involvement in drug
trafficking networks between Gaza and the Sinai in which ISIS has been
implicated.

Now, Israel openly admits to backing and arming Abu Shabab’s group, which
in effect is an open admission that it has been backing the looting of food
aid meant for Gaza’s starving population.

This policy comes in the wake of a systematic Israeli campaign of
assassinating the Hamas government’s civil servants to cause social
collapse in Gaza and foment chaos and lawlessness in the Strip. The Israeli
army has been deliberately targeting Interior Ministry bureaucrats, the
police force, and the security services to create a vacuum that is then
filled by armed looters like Abu Shabab’s group, as recently reported
<https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/israel-is-creating-a-power-vacuum-in-gaza-by-backing-armed-looters-and-killing-anyone-who-tries-to-stop-them/>
by *Mondoweiss*.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich directly admitted to this policy
last month, boasting
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-05-19/ty-article/.premium/were-destroying-gaza-netanyahu-smotrich-rush-to-soothe-fears-over-aid-renewal/00000196-e7b4-d93f-a3b6-fff77c780000>
that “we’re eliminating ministers, bureaucrats, money handlers — everyone
who holds up Hamas’ civilian rule.”

Hamas has been attempting to combat this Israeli policy since late 2024,
when the Interior Ministry in Gaza first formed a special unit of
plainclothed police officers and volunteers who were tasked with hunting
down looters and attempting to restore order to Gaza’s streets. The Hamas
unit, which calls itself “the Arrow Unit” or “the Arrow Force,” was
reactivated during the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas
after the collapse of the ceasefire in mid-March.

*Mondoweiss* spoke to several members of the Arrow Unit, in addition to a
high-level security source in the resistance, who detailed Hamas’s
continuing efforts to combat Israel’s armed proxy groups in the Strip.
*Mondoweiss* also spoke to the heads of several clans in Gaza regarding
Israel’s attempts to exploit the security vacuum it created by backing clan
leaders as an alternative to Hamas rule.
*How the Arrow Unit hunts down thieves and collaborators*

The Arrow Unit was first formed over a year ago in March 2024, when the
phenomenon of looting by armed gangs began to spread throughout Gaza. The
unit began as informal groups of young men dressed in black with their
faces covered, deploying at chaotic public venues like bakery lines, ATMs,
and markets. News reports
<https://arabi21.com/story/1641235/%D8%B3%D9%87%D9%85-%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A9-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%BA%D8%B2%D8%A9-%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B3%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%B6%D8%A8%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%82>
at the time described them arresting suspected thieves and beating them
severely in marketplaces, publicly proclaiming that this was the punishment
for looters.

Over the months, the Arrow Force started to show up in their dozens on the
streets of Gaza, organizing people into queues in public venues. They
seemed to be following a leader who was apparently a police officer.

According to members of the Arrow Unit, lawlessness had become endemic in
Gaza after the police were forced underground following Israel’s targeting
of its officers who had been tasked with guarding aid convoys. This led to
a rapid deterioration of security in Gaza amid soaring prices at markets
and the spread of inter-family feuds and “the law of the jungle,” Arrow
members said.
Palestinian police take measures set up a checkpoint on al-Rashid Street
during the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, January 26. (Photo: Omar
Ashtawy/APA Images)

Abu Hadi, a member of the Arrow Unit who is also an officer in the Gaza
police force, told *Mondoweiss* that he decided to join the unit after
“witnessing thieves robbing food stores and international kitchens, without
concern for the people’s hunger.”

“This aid goes to my family, my neighbors, my relatives. It should not go
to one person who steals and resells it on the black market,” Abu Hadi
said. “We in the Arrow Force will stop these people.”

Abu Islam, another Arrow member, says the force is comprised of police
officers, members of political factions, members of prominent Gaza
families, and occasionally, members of Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam
Brigades.

After this new force began operating within the Strip, it was officially
announced that the Arrow Unit was an organ of the Ministry of Interior. Abu
Muhammad, an official at the Ministry, told *Mondoweiss* via recorded
testimony that the Arrow Unit is authorized to “maintain security within
the Gaza Strip, especially during wartime.”

When asked about how the Arrow Unit operates, Abu Muhammad said that it
obtains intelligence from the police about suspected thieves and
collaborators, and is then dispatched to apprehend them clandestinely.

“The war has taken its toll on the Ministry of Interior, but we make every
effort to communicate with police officers and have them track looters down
and provide names and evidence,” Abu Muhammad said. “Then teams like the
Arrow Unit can apprehend the perpetrators of the crime and reach them
secretly, because the occupation is pursuing all police officers, and this
restricts the work of the Ministry of Interior.”

Abu Muhammad explains that “if there are proven charges against some
thieves and outlaws, they must be punished directly, even by death, to set
an example for others and prevent chaos from becoming the norm in Gaza,”
clarifying that not every looter caught in Gaza is a collaborator with
Israel, but that “their theft is facilitated by the Israeli army.”

“This may become a pathway to following Israeli army directions, which can
later develop into open collaboration,” Abu Muhammad explained. “And the
occupation can make thieves into collaborators, for instance, by not
bombing the places they steal from, and even directing them by phone where
to go.”

Abu Islam, an Arrow member in Gaza City responsible for investigating and
apprehending thieves, explains how looters and collaborators are punished.
“Some are punished by beating, some by killing, and some by imprisonment,”
he explains.

According to Abu Islam, “agents proven to have killed or participated in
killings are executed,” clarifying that the goal of such harsh punishment
is to deter people “from thinking about communicating with the occupation.”

Abu Islam also says he has obtained several confessions from looters who
said that they were directed to food warehouses by Israeli officers. “They
even give us their names and assignments,” he said. “This is clear evidence
that they were infiltrators and agents, receiving direct orders from the
Israeli enemy at a specifically assigned time and place.”

A high-level security source in the resistance told *Mondoweiss* in a
written statement that “investigations reveal the Shabak [Israel’s internal
intelligence service, or the Shin Bet] is directing some agents to engage
in looting and trespassing as a cover for carrying out security
operations.” The source goes on to quote the written confession of an
alleged collaborator who was told by an Israeli officer to “enter the home
of one of the leaders of the resistance through a hole in the wall created
by a drone.”

The security source added that one thief was blackmailed by the Shin Bet
into spying for them when he used an app operated by the army to secure
permission to enter a combat zone. “The Shabak used his criminal record [as
blackmail] to recruit him for its purposes,” the source asserted.

The attempts of Arrow members to intervene in these looting operations have
led Israeli forces to directly target them in the field, killing “dozens”
of personnel, Abu Islam says. On one occasion in late May, he continues,
Arrow members went to a food warehouse in Gaza City where thieves were
trying to steal aid, but were bombed by an Israeli drone. “When the Arrow
Forces arrived, the thieves withdrew, and the Force was targeted,” he
explains. “Then, another unit was dispatched to the site to support the
Force, but it was bombed by the occupation as well.”
[image: Palestinian police take measures set up a checkpoint on al-Rashid
Street during the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, January 26. (Photo:
Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)]Palestinian police take measures set up a
checkpoint on al-Rashid Street during the ceasefire between Israel and
Hamas, January 26. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images) *The Arrow Unit vs.
Yasser Abu Shabab*

On November 19, 2024, the Arrow Unit conducted its first major operation
during the war, attacking a group of looters that had been pillaging aid
trucks for several months, mostly in Rafah. The Arrow forces announced that
they had killed about 20 members of the gang. The leader of the group was
Yasser Abu Shabab.

Abu Hadi says that Hamas first suspected Abu Shabab of collaborating with
Israel when he was documented reaching inaccessible areas in Rafah that are
under exclusive Israeli military control. “Anyone who reached these zones
was killed,” Abu Hadi explains. “This led the Arrow Force to suspect that
he had received orders from the Israeli military to prevent the entry of
aid to the population.”

As the looting of aid convoys continued throughout late 2024, Abu Shabab’s
role became increasingly clear. At the time, an internal UN memo shared
with international media outlets had directly named Abu Shabab
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/18/gaza-looting-aid-convoys-israel-famine/>
as “the main and most influential stakeholder behind systematic and massive
looting” of aid convoys last year, and that Abu Shabab was likely
“benefiting from a passive if not active benevolence,” or “protection,” by
the Israeli army.

Abu Hadi says that Hamas had decided to neutralize him shortly after. “The
Arrow Unit continued to monitor Yasser Abu Shabab’s movements,” he says.

On November 19, Abu Hadi says, “after we confirmed that he was leaving in
his well-known car, he was targeted with two RPGs. However, his brother was
in the car, not him.”
[image: Yasser Abu Shabab. (Photo: Social Media)]Yasser Abu Shabab. (Photo:
Social Media)

Abu Shabab’s brother, Fathi, was killed in the ambush, which Abu Hadi
confirmed had killed over 20 gang members.

“After that, he began burning aid trucks and shooting at drivers instead of
pillaging them,” Abu Hadi says. “As revenge.”

The Arrow Force had nevertheless sent Abu Shabab a strong message. “He
stopped stealing aid for fear of being killed,” Abu Hadi says.

Shadi al-Sufi, a former criminal convicted of murder and detained before
the war, was another alleged gang leader accused of forming a looting group
located near the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing.

Abu Hadi says that al-Soufi could not have remained in the Karam Abu Salem
area without Israeli facilitation. “No one dared reach the location where
Shadi al-Sufi and his group were located,” he said. “This is conclusive
evidence that he operated under the protection of the Israeli army.”

“The Arrow Force attacked al-Sufi’s groups and attempted to reach him, but
the circumstances were not conducive to us,” Abu Hadi added. “Drones were
targeting our members and protecting the thieves and criminals.

Al-Sufi later appeared in a video
<https://www.facebook.com/reel/1627593288134490> on social media denying
the allegations against him. He said that he had been displaced like
everyone else since the beginning of the Rafah invasion and that, like all
residents, he did not have any flour in his home. He explained that all the
rumors circulating about him stealing aid were completely false.

At that point in the war, the Hamas strategy was working. Al-Sufi receded
into obscurity, and Abu Shabab also disappeared during the ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas.

During the ceasefire period, the police and security forces were able to
restore order and reassert civil control over Gaza, but the return to war
<https://mondoweiss.net/2025/03/israel-resumes-its-war-on-gaza-killing-over-350-people-in-one-night/>
on March 18 was accompanied by the explicitly stated goal
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-03-18/ty-article/.premium/idf-targeting-hamas-civil-leadership-to-undermine-its-ability-to-control-gaza/00000195-a900-dbcf-a5f7-af083c2d0000>
of targeting the Hamas civil leadership, pushing all governmental agencies
back into hiding.

Almost overnight, looting and theft of food warehouses returned to Gaza,
leading the Arrow Unit to redouble its efforts. Yasser Abu Shabab reemerged
by May, appearing in photos alongside armed men dressed in full military
gear in Rafah, which has been completely emptied of inhabitants and is
considered part of a “red zone” under the full control of the Israeli army.
His men have been shown sporting Palestinian flags and wearing armbands
with “Anti-Terror Force” written on them.

On May 30, the Qassam Brigades released an unusual video
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9chTaPrw-s> of its resistance fighters
targeting a group of plainclothed men it said were “*musta’ribin*” — the
Palestinian term for undercover Israeli special forces disguised as
Palestinians — but a security source from the resistance in Gaza told Al
Jazeera <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P6eD4HouqI> that the targets were
a group of collaborators who had been tasked by the Israeli army to loot
aid convoys and spy on the activities of the resistance. The source also
said that the collaborators were members of Abu Shabab’s group, directly
accusing Abu Shabab of working under orders of the Israelis to deepen the
state of chaos in Gaza.
[image: Yasser Abu Shabab's men have been shown sporting Palestinian flags
and wearing armbands with “Anti-Terror Force” written on them. (Photo:
Social Media)]Yasser Abu Shabab’s men have been shown sporting Palestinian
flags and wearing armbands with “Anti-Terror Force” written on them.
(Photo: Social Media)

The video came at a time when reports continued to surface
<https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-statement-0> last month of aid convoys being
looted in southern Gaza by armed men.

Abu Shabab openly denies these allegations. He has given himself a public
makeover on social media, casting himself as an upstanding community figure
and “nationalist leader” on his personal Facebook page. He now portrays
himself as safeguarding the passage of aid through Rafah.
Facilitating Israel’s displacement plan

Following yesterday’s admission from Netanyahu that Israel was arming his
group, the official page of Yasser Abu Shabab’s “Popular Forces” media
office, issued a statement on X
<https://x.com/yasserpopular/status/1930841615356043416>, continuing to
deny any connection with the Israeli army. “We wholly reject these
allegations,” the statement read. “We regard this as a blatant attempt at
distorting the image of a popular force that was born out of suffering and
in the face of oppression, theft, and corruption.”

“We have not and will never be a tool of the occupation,” the statement
added. “If the occupation has proof, it should show it to our people and to
the international media. We invite everyone to visit our areas and to
investigate for themselves before spreading lies that serve the
occupation’s narrative in sowing division.”

“The resistance has photographs showing Abu Shabab with the Israeli army.”
High-level security source in the resistance

The same high-level security source in the resistance that spoke to
*Mondoweiss* also said that Abu Shabab, according to their intelligence,
has connections with “Arab intelligence agencies, which have paved the way
for him to act in accordance with the Shabak’s instructions.”

“Especially during the period in which the city of Rafah was occupied, when
we saw the increase in the looting of aid trucks,” the source added. “The
resistance has photographs showing Abu Shabab with the Israeli army. But
the current circumstances do not permit us to publish them due to security
considerations.”
[image: Yasser Abu Shabab (right) with his men in Rafah. (Photo: Social
Media)]Yasser Abu Shabab (right) with his men in Rafah. (Photo: Social
Media)

Analysts have continued to point out that Abu Shabab’s carefully curated
social media presence, with the appearance of statements in both English
and Arabic, is beyond the capabilities of the Gaza gang and is likely the
work of the Shin Bet.

“Multiple mainstream media journalists I spoke to believe the level of
fluent English used in those posts could only come from an IDF operation
room,” Muhammad Shehadeh, a writer and political analyst, wrote on X
<https://x.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1930603829071904840> days before
yesterday’s statement from Netanyahu.

Shehadeh says that today, Abu Shabab works in his new capacity as the head
of his rebranded “national force” of gang members to loot aid under the
Israeli military’s protection, carry out surveillance of resistance forces
on its behalf, and secure aid going to the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza
Humanitarian Fund (GHF), which is the U.S. contractor tasked with
delivering aid to Palestinians instead of the UN.

The GHF’s distribution centers have been the site of several aid massacres
<https://mondoweiss.net/2025/06/theres-a-familiar-script-israel-uses-every-time-it-commits-an-aid-massacre-in-gaza/>
by Israeli forces over the last two weeks, with international aid groups
accusing the Foundation’s aid plan of being part of a “blueprint for ethnic
cleansing
<https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/blueprint-for-ethnic-cleansing-ngos-condemn-gaza-aid-plan/>
.”

Now, Abu Shabab’s group is being recruited in the service of this
blueprint. According to Shehadeh, another one of the tasks Abu Shabab seems
to have been entrusted with by the Israeli army is to establish
“concentration camps” in Gaza and form a “puppet ‘security force’ that the
IDF puts in charge of areas they had depopulated to be their proxy militia
against Hamas.”

In an apparent confirmation of this goal, Abu Shabab’s Facebook page released
a video
<https://www.facebook.com/Popularforces2024/videos/%D8%A5%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%82-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%AD-%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%89-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B9-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AA-%D9%85%D8%B8%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84/745721134549648/?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=bkXGI4kqJ3LIo2DM>,
apparently narrated in his voice, calling on the residents of the eastern
part of Rafah to return to their homes. “Medicine, food, shelter, and
security have been provided,” Abu Shabab said. “Our Popular Forces are
working under total Palestinian legitimacy, and in coordination with the
official channels.”

The rest of the video contains a montage of Abu Shabab’s men handing out
aid to people in eastern Rafah, and is followed by a narrator describing
how the Popular Forces are confronting Hamas — referred to as “the
government of the status quo” — while sheltering hundreds of families in
eastern Gaza in tents, who they have provided with free aid.

It would appear that the calls by the “Popular Forces” for civilians to
move to these areas of Rafah, coupled with Abu Shabab’s coordination with
the GHF, is proceeding in line with Netanyahu’s plan to use aid as bait
<https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/israels-aid-plan-for-gaza-is-a-key-part-of-its-strategy-to-expel-palestinians/>
to lure Palestinians into isolated concentration camps, with the objective
of then forcibly displacing them from Gaza via so-called “voluntary
migration.” Moreover, it seems that Israel has now recruited a native proxy
militia to implement this plan.
[image: Banner of Yasser Abu Shabab "Popular Forces" page on X. (Photo:
Yasser Abu Shabab-Popular Forces X Page)]Banner of Yasser Abu Shabab
“Popular Forces” page on X. (Photo: Yasser Abu Shabab-Popular Forces X
Page) *Clash of the clans*

In spite of Abu Shabab’s efforts to paint himself as a nationalist leader,
on May 31, the Abu Shabab family in Gaza issued a statement
<https://x.com/SuppressedNws/status/1928517422815822171> announcing that it
was disowning “our son Yasser” a day after the Qassam video was released,
distancing themselves from any association with him.

“We, like the rest of the public, were shocked when the resistance
broadcast footage showing Yasser’s group engaged in dangerous security
work, even participating as undercover agents,” the statement read. “We
will pursue and hold him accountable by all means necessary and will not
allow him to stain our family’s reputation. He misled us for too long.”

But now that Netanyahu has publicly admitted to “activating” clans in Gaza
to oppose Hamas, the Palestinian resistance in the Strip is expected to
fight another “internal” front against outright collaboration.

In previous months, rampant looting as a result of Israel’s targeting of
Gaza security forces has led several families in Gaza to call for the clans
to form “popular committees” for self-defense against thieves, including
statements from the Madhoun and al-Ghoul clans in early May. Some of those
calls openly advocated for the families to be armed.

At around the same time, armed men belonging to the al-Ghoul family
appeared in the area of the Qatari-funded Hamad Rehabilitation Hospital in
Gaza City, claiming to be volunteers to protect the hospital from looting.
But the group soon dissipated, and the al-Ghoul clan has publicly affirmed
its commitment to the rule of law since.

“We formed an armed group to protect the Qatari Hospital because thieves
were about to loot it, and we secured it,” Yousri al-Ghoul, one of the
family representatives, told *Mondoweiss* in mid-May. “After that, a
security unit was formed by the government to protect the public
properties, so we took a step back.”

“All we want is security in Gaza,” al-Ghoul added.

Husni al-Mughni, the head of the Higher Committee for Tribal Affairs in the
Gaza Strip, told *Mondoweiss* in May that “no armed family committee has
been formed,” adding that the clans in Gaza “reject the arming of clans,
which must prioritize social peace.”

“We are now fighting over water, food, and tents. If families arm
themselves, all our battles will become internal,” al-Mughni added.

Yasin al-Madhoun, another clan leader, admits that some members of his
family may have discussed forming an armed group, but that the family has
not officially taken such a step.

“The family has not decided to form armed units, but we want to maintain
security within the Gaza Strip,” al-Madhoun qualified. “In the event that
the government collapses or there is a lack of security and safety within
the Strip, we must demand a force to maintain security and replace the
government to fill the security vacuum. This is no exception in the Gaza
Strip. Wherever the government falls, popular committees are formed to
protect society.”

At the time, members of the Arrow Unit told *Mondoweiss* that they would
prevent these families from arming themselves, as they would then be
co-opted by Israel in service of its genocidal goals.

“We will confront the families who arm themselves, and this is not a matter
left to the Arrow unit, but rather to all families in the Gaza Strip,” Abu
Islam, one of the Arrow members who spoke to *Mondoweiss*, said. “All
families must stand side by side with the Arrow Unit and all police units
to curb the spread of chaos.”

Abu Islam added that many families have rejected these calls. “The attempt
to arm families and transform the law into tribal rule has failed, because
the families shouldered their responsibilities and rejected this offer from
the occupation,” he said.

Nearly a month later, Abu Shabab’s armed gang has now taken on a new name —
“the Popular Forces” — and is aiming to fill the security vacuum Israel
created by dismantling Gaza’s civil institutions. Among their
responsibilities are the distribution of aid to locals as a means of
gaining popular support and securing aid to the GHF sites.

“It is no secret that the occupation has hunted down every part of the
security forces, since they represent the backstop to maintaining the
internal front, which is in direct contradiction to the [Israeli army’s]
war aims,” the security source in the resistance who spoke to *Mondoweiss*
said. “Its aim is to create chaos in Gaza as revenge against civilians,
because they embrace the resistance,” the source added.
------------------------------


*Faris Giacaman*Faris Giacaman is Mondoweiss’ Palestine Editorial Director.


*Tareq S. Hajjaj *Tareq S. Hajjaj is the Gaza Correspondent for Mondoweiss
and a member of the Palestinian Writers Union. Follow him on Twitter/X at
@Tareqshajjaj <https://twitter.com/Tareqshajjaj>.
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