Hamas claims to deal ‘severe blow’ to Gazan militia with ties to Israel
Terror group says it arrested members of Abu Shabab militia, seized its equipment in southern Gaza, as it seeks to reassert control over Strip
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The Hamas terror group claimed Tuesday that its so-called Radea security force had “dealt a severe blow” to an armed group in Gaza it accuses of collaborating with Israel.
In a statement, Hamas said its Radea security force carried out an “operation early Tuesday morning in the southern Gaza Strip, targeting the militia of fugitive Yasser Abu Shabab.”
Hamas added that it arrested “a number of members” of Abu Shabab’s Popular Forces group during the operation and confiscated “military equipment and tools used in their subversive activities.”
The statement said that the operation was carried out “as part of the ongoing deterrence operation against dens of treason.”
Hamas recently established the Radea unit, whose name translates to “deterrence” and whose purpose, it says, is to “enforce order.”
Clashes broke out early last week in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood between the Radea force and several armed groups, including that of Yasser Abu Shabab, which Hamas accuses of looting and receiving weapons from Israel.
Abu Shabab’s Popular Forces originally started operating in Gaza’s southern Rafah governorate and was accused of aid looting.
In July, Abu Shabab said his group was able to move freely in zones under Israeli military control and communicated their operations beforehand.
Offering attractive salaries, the group had recruited hundreds of fighters, a source close to Abu Shabab told Reuters earlier this year.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged in June that Israel had armed Palestinian gangs opposed to Hamas, without directly naming the one led by Abu Shabab.
Since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 10, the movement has sought to reassert its presence on the ground and reaffirm control over the devastated Palestinian enclave.
Last week, Hamas’s official television channel broadcast images of what it said was an execution of eight “collaborators,” shot in front of a crowd in a Gaza City street.
Netanyahu said Saturday that the war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, would not be over until the terror group disarms, as the US-brokered ceasefire deal stipulates.
Hamas has not directly addressed the issue since US President Donald Trump presented the plan two weeks ago.
The Times of Israel Community.