Head of Gaza militia quoted denying backing by Israel and demanding Hamas relinquish power

The head of an anti-Hamas militia in Gaza is quoted today giving comments to an Israeli media outlet and a US nonprofit on his group’s operations in the enclave, in which he denies ties to Jerusalem.

Defense sources confirmed on Thursday that Israel has been arming a criminal gang in the Strip as part of an effort to strengthen opposition to Hamas in the enclave. The group in question is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a member of a large clan in southern Gaza. It has been linked in the past to smuggling operations with Egyptian jihadist groups.

The revelation led to intense criticism within Israel.

Ostensibly speaking to Army Radio in a series of text messages, the veracity of which hasn’t been confirmed, Abu Shabab says: “We do not work with Israel. Our goal is to protect the Palestinians from Hamas terror. Our weapons are not from Israel — they are simple arms we collected from the local population.”

He adds that “these rumors are meant to harm our reputation and create hostility between us, Israel, and Arab states.”

He denies having any meetings with Israeli officials, while saying that “if any coordination takes place it will be humanitarian, for the benefit of our people in eastern Rafah, and will be carried out through mediation channels.”

Meanwhile, the Center for Peace Communications, which bills itself as an organization committed to revealing the plight of those living under the rule of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, publishes what it calls an “exclusive first public statement” from Abu Shabab. It is not clear how it obtained the audio clip, which also cannot be verified.

In it, the person identifying himself as Abu Shabab also denies “working with the occupation,” while calling on Hamas to “step down from government.” He asserts, “We have hundreds of families heading to the areas we control daily.”