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<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Inside the Hamas unit fighting Israeli-armed gangs that loot aid and facilitate displacement in Gaza</h1>
<span class="gmail-post-author"><span class="gmail-by">By</span> <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/author/faris/" title="Posts by Faris Giacaman" class="gmail-author gmail-url gmail-fn" rel="author">Faris Giacaman</a> and <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/author/tareqhajjaj/" title="Posts by Tareq S. Hajjaj" class="gmail-author gmail-url gmail-fn" rel="author">Tareq S. Hajjaj</a></span>
<span class="gmail-meta-sep"></span>
<span class="gmail-date-link">June 6, 2025</span>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><img src="cid:ii_mbmdd83x0" alt="200125_Gaza_HD_0034-1536x1152.jpg" width="467" height="350"><br>
<font size="1">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)
</font><br><p>The Israeli military is arming gangs to combat Hamas in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-providing-guns-to-gaza-jihadist-gang-to-bolster-opposition-to-hamas/">confirmed</a> on Thursday. The <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/r1vgxs1meg">revelation</a>
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 <a href="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">Prime Minister\u2019s office responded</a>
by saying that it was combating the Palestinian resistance group \u201cin
various ways, on the recommendation of all heads of the security
establishment.\u201d </p>
<p>Later, Netanyahu officially confirmed the reports in <a href="https://x.com/romkri/status/1930671533678092605?s=46&t=NH3HrdbozvKJsmFEZnqlGw">a video</a>
posted on X. \u201cOn the advice of security officials, we activated clans
in Gaza that oppose Hamas,\u201d the Israeli Prime Minister said. \u201cWhat\u2019s
wrong with that? It only saves the lives of Israeli soldiers.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cPublishing this only benefits Hamas, but Lieberman doesn\u2019t care,\u201d Netanyahu added.</p>
<p>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 <a href="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">outlets</a>
as \u201clinked to ISIS,\u201d likely due to Abu Shabab\u2019s involvement in drug
trafficking networks between Gaza and the Sinai in which ISIS has been
implicated.</p>
<p>Now, Israel openly admits to backing and arming Abu Shabab\u2019s group,
which in effect is an open admission that it has been backing the
looting of food aid meant for Gaza\u2019s starving population. </p>
<p>This policy comes in the wake of a systematic Israeli campaign of
assassinating the Hamas government\u2019s 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\u2019s group, as <a href="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/">recently reported</a> by <em>Mondoweiss</em>.</p>
<p>Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich directly admitted to this policy last month, <a href="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">boasting</a> that \u201cwe\u2019re eliminating ministers, bureaucrats, money handlers \u2014 everyone who holds up Hamas\u2019 civilian rule.\u201d</p>
<p>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\u2019s streets. The
Hamas unit, which calls itself \u201cthe Arrow Unit\u201d or \u201cthe Arrow Force,\u201d
was reactivated during the resumption of hostilities between Israel and
Hamas after the collapse of the ceasefire in mid-March.</p>
<p><em>Mondoweiss</em> spoke to several members of the Arrow Unit, in
addition to a high-level security source in the resistance, who detailed
Hamas\u2019s continuing efforts to combat Israel\u2019s armed proxy groups in the
Strip. <em>Mondoweiss</em> also spoke to the heads of several clans in
Gaza regarding Israel\u2019s attempts to exploit the security vacuum it
created by backing clan leaders as an alternative to Hamas rule.</p>
<h2><strong>How the Arrow Unit hunts down thieves and collaborators</strong></h2>
<p>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 <a href="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">reports</a>
at the time described them arresting suspected thieves and beating them
severely in marketplaces, publicly proclaiming that this was the
punishment for looters.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>According to members of the Arrow Unit, lawlessness had become
endemic in Gaza after the police were forced underground following
Israel\u2019s 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 \u201cthe
law of the jungle,\u201d Arrow members said.</p>
<img width="467" height="311" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250125_Nusairat_OSH_003-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">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)
<p>Abu Hadi, a member of the Arrow Unit who is also an officer in the Gaza police force, told <em>Mondoweiss</em>
that he decided to join the unit after \u201cwitnessing thieves robbing food
stores and international kitchens, without concern for the people\u2019s
hunger.\u201d </p>
<p>\u201cThis 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,\u201d Abu
Hadi said. \u201cWe in the Arrow Force will stop these people.\u201d </p>
<p>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\u2019s armed wing, the
Qassam Brigades.</p>
<p>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 <em>Mondoweiss</em>
via recorded testimony that the Arrow Unit is authorized to \u201cmaintain
security within the Gaza Strip, especially during wartime.\u201d</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>\u201cThe 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,\u201d Abu Muhammad said. \u201cThen
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.\u201d</p>
<p>Abu Muhammad explains that \u201cif 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,\u201d clarifying that not every looter caught in Gaza is a collaborator
with Israel, but that \u201ctheir theft is facilitated by the Israeli
army.\u201d </p>
<p>\u201cThis may become a pathway to following Israeli army directions,
which can later develop into open collaboration,\u201d Abu Muhammad
explained. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d</p>
<p>Abu Islam, an Arrow member in Gaza City responsible for investigating
and apprehending thieves, explains how looters and collaborators are
punished. \u201cSome are punished by beating, some by killing, and some by
imprisonment,\u201d he explains. </p>
<p>According to Abu Islam, \u201cagents proven to have killed or participated
in killings are executed,\u201d clarifying that the goal of such harsh
punishment is to deter people \u201cfrom thinking about communicating with
the occupation.\u201d</p>
<p>Abu Islam also says he has obtained several confessions from looters
who said that they were directed to food warehouses by Israeli officers.
\u201cThey even give us their names and assignments,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is
clear evidence that they were infiltrators and agents, receiving direct
orders from the Israeli enemy at a specifically assigned time and
place.\u201d</p>
<p>A high-level security source in the resistance told <em>Mondoweiss</em>
in a written statement that \u201cinvestigations reveal the Shabak [Israel\u2019s
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.\u201d The source goes on to quote the written confession
of an alleged collaborator who was told by an Israeli officer to \u201center
the home of one of the leaders of the resistance through a hole in the
wall created by a drone.\u201d</p>
<p>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. \u201cThe Shabak used his criminal
record [as blackmail] to recruit him for its purposes,\u201d the source
asserted. </p>
<p>The attempts of Arrow members to intervene in these looting
operations have led Israeli forces to directly target them in the field,
killing \u201cdozens\u201d 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. \u201cWhen the Arrow Forces arrived, the thieves withdrew, and the
Force was targeted,\u201d he explains. \u201cThen, another unit was dispatched to
the site to support the Force, but it was bombed by the occupation as
well.\u201d </p>
<img width="467" height="311" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250125_Nusairat_OSH_0015-1024x683.jpg" alt="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)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">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)
<h2><strong>The Arrow Unit vs. Yasser Abu Shabab</strong></h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. \u201cAnyone who reached
these zones was killed,\u201d Abu Hadi explains. \u201cThis led the Arrow Force to
suspect that he had received orders from the Israeli military to
prevent the entry of aid to the population.\u201d</p>
<p>As the looting of aid convoys continued throughout late 2024, Abu
Shabab\u2019s role became increasingly clear. At the time, an internal UN
memo shared with international media outlets had directly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/18/gaza-looting-aid-convoys-israel-famine/">named Abu Shabab</a>
as \u201cthe main and most influential stakeholder behind systematic and
massive looting\u201d of aid convoys last year, and that Abu Shabab was
likely \u201cbenefiting from a passive if not active benevolence,\u201d or
\u201cprotection,\u201d by the Israeli army.</p>
<p>Abu Hadi says that Hamas had decided to neutralize him shortly after.
\u201cThe Arrow Unit continued to monitor Yasser Abu Shabab\u2019s movements,\u201d he
says. </p>
<p>On November 19, Abu Hadi says, \u201cafter 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.\u201d </p>
<div>
<img src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/bu-shabab.avif" alt="Yasser Abu Shabab. (Photo: Social Media)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="467" height="467" style="margin-right: 25px;">Yasser Abu Shabab. (Photo: Social Media)</div>
<p>Abu Shabab\u2019s brother, Fathi, was killed in the ambush, which Abu Hadi confirmed had killed over 20 gang members.</p>
<p>\u201cAfter that, he began burning aid trucks and shooting at drivers instead of pillaging them,\u201d Abu Hadi says. \u201cAs revenge.\u201d </p>
<p>The Arrow Force had nevertheless sent Abu Shabab a strong message.
\u201cHe stopped stealing aid for fear of being killed,\u201d Abu Hadi says. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Abu Hadi says that al-Soufi could not have remained in the Karam Abu
Salem area without Israeli facilitation. \u201cNo one dared reach the
location where Shadi al-Sufi and his group were located,\u201d he said. \u201cThis
is conclusive evidence that he operated under the protection of the
Israeli army.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cThe Arrow Force attacked al-Sufi\u2019s groups and attempted to reach
him, but the circumstances were not conducive to us,\u201d Abu Hadi added.
\u201cDrones were targeting our members and protecting the thieves and
criminals.</p>
<p>Al-Sufi later appeared in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/1627593288134490">video</a>
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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>During the ceasefire period, the police and security forces were able
to restore order and reassert civil control over Gaza, but the <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/03/israel-resumes-its-war-on-gaza-killing-over-350-people-in-one-night/">return to war</a> on March 18 was accompanied by the <a href="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">explicitly stated goal</a> of targeting the Hamas civil leadership, pushing all governmental agencies back into hiding. </p>
<p>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 \u201cred zone\u201d under the full
control of the Israeli army. His men have been shown sporting
Palestinian flags and wearing armbands with \u201cAnti-Terror Force\u201d written
on them.</p>
<p>On May 30, the Qassam Brigades <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9chTaPrw-s">released an unusual video</a> of its resistance fighters targeting a group of plainclothed men it said were \u201c<em>musta\u2019ribin</em>\u201d
\u2014 the Palestinian term for undercover Israeli special forces disguised
as Palestinians \u2014 but a security source from the resistance in Gaza <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P6eD4HouqI">told Al Jazeera</a>
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\u2019s group, directly accusing Abu Shabab of working under orders
of the Israelis to deepen the state of chaos in Gaza. </p>
<div>
<img width="467" height="262" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/buu-shababs.avif" alt="Yasser Abu Shabab's men have been shown sporting Palestinian flags and wearing armbands with \u201cAnti-Terror Force\u201d written on them. (Photo: Social Media)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Yasser
Abu Shabab\u2019s men have been shown sporting Palestinian flags and wearing
armbands with \u201cAnti-Terror Force\u201d written on them. (Photo: Social
Media)</div>
<p>The video came at a time when <a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-statement-0">reports continued to surface</a> last month of aid convoys being looted in southern Gaza by armed men.</p>
<p>Abu Shabab openly denies these allegations. He has given himself a
public makeover on social media, casting himself as an upstanding
community figure and \u201cnationalist leader\u201d on his personal Facebook page.
He now portrays himself as safeguarding the passage of aid through
Rafah. </p>
<h2>Facilitating Israel\u2019s displacement plan</h2>
<p>Following yesterday\u2019s admission from Netanyahu that Israel was arming
his group, the official page of Yasser Abu Shabab\u2019s \u201cPopular Forces\u201d
media office, <a href="https://x.com/yasserpopular/status/1930841615356043416">issued a statement on X</a>,
continuing to deny any connection with the Israeli army. \u201cWe wholly
reject these allegations,\u201d the statement read. \u201cWe 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.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cWe have not and will never be a tool of the occupation,\u201d the
statement added. \u201cIf 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\u2019s narrative in sowing division.\u201d</p>
<blockquote><p>\u201cThe resistance has photographs showing Abu Shabab with the Israeli army.\u201d</p><cite>High-level security source in the resistance</cite></blockquote>
<p>The same high-level security source in the resistance that spoke to <em>Mondoweiss</em>
also said that Abu Shabab, according to their intelligence, has
connections with \u201cArab intelligence agencies, which have paved the way
for him to act in accordance with the Shabak\u2019s instructions.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cEspecially during the period in which the city of Rafah was
occupied, when we saw the increase in the looting of aid trucks,\u201d the
source added. \u201cThe 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.\u201d</p>
<div>
<img width="467" height="292" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Abu-shabab.jpeg" alt="Yasser Abu Shabab (right) with his men in Rafah. (Photo: Social Media)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Yasser Abu Shabab (right) with his men in Rafah. (Photo: Social Media)</div>
<p>Analysts have continued to point out that Abu Shabab\u2019s 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. </p>
<p>\u201cMultiple mainstream media journalists I spoke to believe the level
of fluent English used in those posts could only come from an IDF
operation room,\u201d Muhammad Shehadeh, a writer and political analyst, <a href="https://x.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1930603829071904840">wrote on X</a> days before yesterday\u2019s statement from Netanyahu.</p>
<p>Shehadeh says that today, Abu Shabab works in his new capacity as the
head of his rebranded \u201cnational force\u201d of gang members to loot aid
under the Israeli military\u2019s 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. </p>
<p>The GHF\u2019s distribution centers have been the site of several <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/06/theres-a-familiar-script-israel-uses-every-time-it-commits-an-aid-massacre-in-gaza/">aid massacres</a>
by Israeli forces over the last two weeks, with international aid
groups accusing the Foundation\u2019s aid plan of being part of a \u201c<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/blueprint-for-ethnic-cleansing-ngos-condemn-gaza-aid-plan/">blueprint for ethnic cleansing</a>.\u201d </p>
<p>Now, Abu Shabab\u2019s 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
\u201cconcentration camps\u201d in Gaza and form a \u201cpuppet \u2018security force\u2019 that
the IDF puts in charge of areas they had depopulated to be their proxy
militia against Hamas.\u201d</p>
<p>In an apparent confirmation of this goal, Abu Shabab\u2019s Facebook page <a href="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">released a video</a>,
apparently narrated in his voice, calling on the residents of the
eastern part of Rafah to return to their homes. \u201cMedicine, food,
shelter, and security have been provided,\u201d Abu Shabab said. \u201cOur Popular
Forces are working under total Palestinian legitimacy, and in
coordination with the official channels.\u201d</p>
<p>The rest of the video contains a montage of Abu Shabab\u2019s men handing
out aid to people in eastern Rafah, and is followed by a narrator
describing how the Popular Forces are confronting Hamas \u2014 referred to as
\u201cthe government of the status quo\u201d \u2014 while sheltering hundreds of
families in eastern Gaza in tents, who they have provided with free aid.</p>
<p>It would appear that the calls by the \u201cPopular Forces\u201d for civilians
to move to these areas of Rafah, coupled with Abu Shabab\u2019s coordination
with the GHF, is proceeding in line with Netanyahu\u2019s plan <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/israels-aid-plan-for-gaza-is-a-key-part-of-its-strategy-to-expel-palestinians/">to use aid as bait</a>
to lure Palestinians into isolated concentration camps, with the
objective of then forcibly displacing them from Gaza via so-called
\u201cvoluntary migration.\u201d Moreover, it seems that Israel has now recruited a
native proxy militia to implement this plan. </p>
<img width="467" height="156" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pop-forces-Abu-shabab-1024x341.jpeg" alt="Banner of Yasser Abu Shabab "Popular Forces" page on X. (Photo: Yasser Abu Shabab-Popular Forces X Page)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Banner of Yasser Abu Shabab \u201cPopular Forces\u201d page on X. (Photo: Yasser Abu Shabab-Popular Forces X Page)
<h2><strong>Clash of the clans</strong></h2>
<p>In spite of Abu Shabab\u2019s efforts to paint himself as a nationalist leader, on May 31, the Abu Shabab family in Gaza issued <a href="https://x.com/SuppressedNws/status/1928517422815822171">a statement</a>
announcing that it was disowning \u201cour son Yasser\u201d a day after the
Qassam video was released, distancing themselves from any association
with him. </p>
<p>\u201cWe, like the rest of the public, were shocked when the resistance
broadcast footage showing Yasser\u2019s group engaged in dangerous security
work, even participating as undercover agents,\u201d the statement read. \u201cWe
will pursue and hold him accountable by all means necessary and will not
allow him to stain our family\u2019s reputation. He misled us for too long.\u201d</p>
<p>But now that Netanyahu has publicly admitted to \u201cactivating\u201d clans in
Gaza to oppose Hamas, the Palestinian resistance in the Strip is
expected to fight another \u201cinternal\u201d front against outright
collaboration. </p>
<p>In previous months, rampant looting as a result of Israel\u2019s targeting
of Gaza security forces has led several families in Gaza to call for
the clans to form \u201cpopular committees\u201d 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>\u201cWe formed an armed group to protect the Qatari Hospital because
thieves were about to loot it, and we secured it,\u201d Yousri al-Ghoul, one
of the family representatives, told <em>Mondoweiss</em> in mid-May.
\u201cAfter that, a security unit was formed by the government to protect the
public properties, so we took a step back.\u201d </p>
<p>\u201cAll we want is security in Gaza,\u201d al-Ghoul added.</p>
<p>Husni al-Mughni, the head of the Higher Committee for Tribal Affairs in the Gaza Strip, told <em>Mondoweiss</em>
in May that \u201cno armed family committee has been formed,\u201d adding that
the clans in Gaza \u201creject the arming of clans, which must prioritize
social peace.\u201d </p>
<p>\u201cWe are now fighting over water, food, and tents. If families arm
themselves, all our battles will become internal,\u201d al-Mughni added. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>\u201cThe family has not decided to form armed units, but we want to
maintain security within the Gaza Strip,\u201d al-Madhoun qualified. \u201cIn 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.\u201d</p>
<p>At the time, members of the Arrow Unit told <em>Mondoweiss</em> that
they would prevent these families from arming themselves, as they would
then be co-opted by Israel in service of its genocidal goals.</p>
<p>\u201cWe 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,\u201d Abu Islam, one of the Arrow members who spoke to <em>Mondoweiss</em>, said. \u201cAll families must stand side by side with the Arrow Unit and all police units to curb the spread of chaos.\u201d</p>
<p>Abu Islam added that many families have rejected these calls. \u201cThe
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,\u201d he said.</p>
<p>Nearly a month later, Abu Shabab\u2019s armed gang has now taken on a new
name \u2014 \u201cthe Popular Forces\u201d \u2014 and is aiming to fill the security vacuum
Israel created by dismantling Gaza\u2019s 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.</p>
<p>\u201cIt 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\u2019s] war aims,\u201d the security source in the resistance who spoke to <em>Mondoweiss</em> said. \u201cIts aim is to create chaos in Gaza as revenge against civilians, because they embrace the resistance,\u201d the source added.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Faris Giacaman<br></strong>Faris Giacaman is Mondoweiss\u2019 Palestine Editorial Director.</p>
<p><strong>Tareq S. Hajjaj <br></strong>Tareq S. Hajjaj is the Gaza
Correspondent for Mondoweiss and a member of the Palestinian Writers
Union. Follow him on Twitter/X at <a href="https://twitter.com/Tareqshajjaj">@Tareqshajjaj</a>.</p>
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