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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/07/10/palestinian-resistance-factions-in-gaza-brand-local-abu-shabab-gang-as-traitors-for-hire/">peoplesdispatch.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza brand local Abu Shabab gang \u201ctraitors for hire\u201d</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Aseel Saleh</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">July 10, 2025</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><img src="cid:ii_mcy7379r0" alt="Palestinian-resistance-factions-in-Gaza-brand-local-Abu-Shabab-gang-as-22traitors-for-hire22.jpeg" width="467" height="263"><br><p><font size="1">Yasser Abu Shabab. Photo: wikipedia </font></p><div>
<p><span>The local armed gang </span><a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/resistance-groups-declare-abu-shabab-and-his-gang-traitors-with-no-protection/"><span>Abu Shabab</span></a><span> was branded \u201ctraitors for hire\u201d in a </span><a href="https://www.aljazeera.net/news/2025/7/6/%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%81%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9"><span>statement</span></a><span>
from the Joint Operations Room of the Palestinian resistance factions
in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, July 6, after the militia\u2019s leader admitted
to collaborating with the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).</span></p>
<p><span>The resistance factions labeled Yasser Abu Shabab, who leads
the gang, a \u201cmercenary traitor\u201d who, alongside his gang, \u201cdeviated from
the homeland\u2019s path\u201d.</span></p>
<p><span>The Joint Operations Room, which consists of </span><a href="https://www.scfr.ir/en/defense-security/151634/strategic-consequences-of-formation-of-palestine-joint-operations-room/"><span>12 military wings</span></a><span>
affiliated with various Palestinian resistance factions, including
Hamas, warned that the Israeli-backed gang would receive \u201cno mercy\u201d
along with \u201cthose who follow their path of aiding the occupation\u201d.</span></p>
<h3><b>The mob boss confesses to collaboration with the IOF</b></h3>
<p><span>The statement was released by the Palestinian resistance shortly after Israeli media outlets published quotes from an </span><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/leader-of-militia-in-gaza-fighting-hamas-admits-cooperating-with-idf/"><span>interview</span></a><span>, conducted by Israeli Arabic-language radio </span><i><span>Makan </span></i><span>with Yasser Abu Shabab.</span></p>
<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019ve tasted the bitterness and injustice inflicted on us by
Hamas, and we\u2019ve taken it upon ourselves to confront this aggression. We
don\u2019t rule out confrontation with Hamas and we don\u2019t rule out civil
war, no matter the cost,\u201d Abu Shabab said during the interview.</span></p>
<p><span>\u201cWe didn\u2019t have any security like we do in zones under Israeli
control. We entered these areas and carried out operations beyond
expectations. As long as the goal is support and assistance [to the
IDF], and nothing more, when we go on a mission, we inform them \u2014
nothing beyond that \u2014 and we carry out the military operation,\u201d the head
of the militia confessed.</span></p>
<p><span>Israel\u2019s recruitment of Abu Shabab and other armed clans in the besieged enclave was previously exposed in June, when</span><span> Israeli opposition leader </span><a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/byicfeyxge"><span>Avigdor Lieberman</span></a><span> accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of arming ISIS-linked militias in Gaza.</span></p>
<p><span>Netanyahu responded to Liberman in a </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saf2lfv1HwA"><span>video</span></a><span> posted on </span><i><span>X</span></i><span>: \u201cOn the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas,\u201d the PM said.</span></p>
<p><span>\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with this? This is only good and saves the lives of IDF soldiers,\u201d he added.</span></p>
<h3><b>Gaza\u2019s revolutionary court gave Yasser Abu Shabab 10 days to surrender prior to his confessions</b></h3>
<p><span>On Wednesday, July 2, the Revolutionary Court under the Military Judiciary in Gaza gave Yasser Abu Shabab a </span><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/2/hamas-run-court-gives-gaza-gang-leader-abu-shabab-10-days-to-surrender"><span>10-day deadline</span></a><span>
to surrender himself to stand trial over charges of \u201ctreason and
collaboration with hostile entities, forming an armed gang, and leading
an armed rebellion.\u201d</span></p>
<p><span>Abu Shabab\u2019s infamous militia has </span><a href="https://qudsnen.co/military-court-in-gaza-gives-israels-yasser-abu-shabab-10-days-to-surrender/"><span>reportedly</span></a><span>
conspired with the IOF to commit multiple crimes against the
Palestinians in Gaza, including killing civilians, targeting Palestinian
resistance fighters, and looting humanitarian aid amid Israel\u2019s </span><a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/21/israel-maintains-aid-blockade-as-un-warns-that-14000-babies-could-die/"><span>four-month blockade and starvation of the people in Gaza.</span></a></p>
<p><span>The court also urged Palestinians to report the whereabouts of
Abu Shabab, who is believed to be in an IOF-controlled area in Rafah in
southern Gaza, to the concerned authorities.</span></p>
<h3><b>Yasser Abu Shabab\u2019s long rap sheet</b></h3>
<p><span>Abu Shabab, who calls his gang the \u201cPopular Forces\u201d, was arrested by Hamas in 2015 and sentenced to 25 years in prison on </span><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/popular-forces-who-are-gangsters-being-armed-israel"><span>drug trafficking</span></a><span> charges.</span></p>
<p><span>However, days after Israel started its genocidal aggression on Gaza, in October 2023, he escaped </span><span>Asda prison in western Khan Younis </span><span>as Israeli airstrikes hit the area. The details of his escape are still unknown.</span></p>
<p><span>Since then, Abu Shabab has formed a militia consisting of
hundreds of men that has taken control of an area near the Kerem Shalom
crossing, which connects Gaza, Israel, and Egypt. </span></p>
<p><i><span>The Washington Post</span></i><span> leaked the content of a </span><a href="https://www.newarab.com/analysis/rise-abu-shabab-mapping-gaza-militia-armed-israel"><span>UN memo</span></a><span>
in November 2024, which identified Abu Shabab as a main aid looter, who
has operated under \u201cpassive or active\u201d protection of the IOF.</span></p>
<p><span>Multiple sources reported to </span><a href="https://x.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1930603829071904840"><span>Muhammad Shehada</span></a><span>,
a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a
number of activities that Abu Shabab\u2019s gang has carried out during the
ongoing genocide:</span></p>
<ul><li><span>Looting UN aid under IOF protection, storing it in warehouses, and selling some on the black market.</span></li><li><span>Securing aid for the US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has been accused of involvement in the</span><a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/06/17/israel-continues-massacring-people-at-ghf-distribution-centers-in-gaza/"><span> IOF\u2019s massacres of hundreds of starved people at aid delivery points.</span></a></li><li><span>Carrying out reconnaissance missions on behalf of the IOF.</span></li><li><span>Establishing concentration camps on behalf of the IOF in eastern Rafah, using looted food to lure Palestinians.</span></li><li><span>Acting as a proxy militia against Hamas in areas depopulated by Israel.</span></li></ul>
<p><span>In June, the gang claimed affiliation with what it called
\u201cPalestinian legitimacy\u201d \u2013 presumably the Palestinian Authority, which
resistance factions have denounced as an institution that </span><a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/12/11/palestinian-authority-kills-teenager-in-jenin/"><span>\u201cserves the interests of the enemy\u201d.</span></a><span> Yet, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority\u2019s security forces, Major General </span><a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israels-experiment-abu-shababs-criminal-militia-targeted-by-gaza-resistance/"><span>Anwar Rajab,</span></a><span> denied any association with Abu Shabab.</span></p>
<h3><b>\u201cOperation Gideon\u2019s Chariots\u201d fell flat at the hands of Palestinian resistance</b></h3>
<p><span>Israel launched its \u201c</span><a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/20/israel-launches-expanded-ground-offensive-gideons-chariots-while-facing-growing-international-repudiation/"><span>Operation Gideon\u2019s Chariots</span></a><span>\u201d
deadly ground operation on May 18, in a bid to pressure Hamas to accept
its ceasefire proposal. The operation has been confronted by </span><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/heavy-price-dozens-of-israeli-soldiers-killed-since-collapse-of-gaza-ceasefire"><span>intensified military operations</span></a><span> by the Palestinian resistance, who have inflicted considerable losses on the IOF and left dozens of its soldiers dead.</span></p>
<p><span>The most recent of these operations was an </span><a href="https://en.royanews.tv/news/61129"><span>ambush</span></a><span>
carried out by the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas,
against the IOF in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, leaving five soldiers
killed and at least 10 others wounded.</span></p>
<p><span>Analysts argue that the defeat of Gideon\u2019s Chariots thus far by
the resistance, has pushed Israel to recruit local criminal gangs in an
effort to dismantle the resistance groups in Gaza by instigating a
civil war.</span></p>
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