Hamas’s security campaign against gangs and militias armed and funded by the Israeli army is expanding.
A security source from the Ministry of Interior in Gaza tells Mondoweiss that the resistance group will soon launch another security campaign that will be “the largest yet,” aiming to eliminate groups that continue to collaborate with the Israeli army.
Since the ceasefire took effect in Gaza on October 10, Hamas forces have cracked down on a number of these groups throughout the Strip, most recently disarming the Doghmush clan in Gaza City. Other groups remain at large in areas still under the control of the Israeli army, most notorious among them the “Popular Forces” led by Yasser Abu Shabab in eastern Rafah, and the “Popular Army” led by Ashraf al-Mansi in northern Gaza.
On Sunday, the Israeli army said that Hamas had violated the ceasefire following an explosion in Rafah that led to the death of two Israeli soldiers. The army claimed that Hamas was responsible, which the resistance group denied, but the army immediately began bombing several locations across Gaza, killing 13 people and striking over 20 targets, according to local authorities.
Later in the day, Drop Site’s Ryan Grim reported that “familiar” sources said the White House and Pentagon were aware that the explosion was in fact caused by an Israeli settler bulldozer running over unexploded ordnance.
In Gaza, initial rumors speculated that the explosion occurred while Hamas forces attempted to attack the Abu Shabab group. Later in the day, Abu Shabab released a provocative video of himself strolling through the city, armed and flanked by militia members.
According to the security source who spoke to Mondoweiss, the number of militias in the Strip has dropped dramatically since Hamas launched its campaign. The source is an officer in the Ministry of Interior with knowledge of the intelligence gathered by Hamas on militia activity in the Strip, including from interrogations of militia members arrested by the security forces.
“The number of gang members collaborating with the occupation is small and does not exceed a few hundred throughout all of Gaza,” the Interior Ministry’s security source told Mondoweiss, noting that this estimate does not include Abu Shabab’s group. “The larger number belongs to the militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab, which is based east of Rafah City. He relies on families close to him who live in the same area, and it is entirely under the protection of the occupation army.”
On Tuesday, Haaretz reported that Hamas has already restored control over the parts of Gaza from which Israeli forces have withdrawn, according to Israeli army assessments. Army sources reportedly told Haaretz that most local militias have been eliminated or disbanded, and there has been no local opposition to the reassertion of Hamas control.
The Abu Shabab group remains a significant exception. The Interior Ministry security officer explained that, based on intelligence gathered by Hamas in the field, Abu Shabab’s militia includes around 2,000 members.
Another security source occupying a senior position in the Interior Ministry told Mondoweiss that the number of gang members that have been directly involved in bloodshed and killings does not exceed 80 members. “Our evidence demonstrates that these individuals are implicated in acts of sabotage, kidnappings, the execution of civilians, looting aid, offering armed cover for the occupation, and receiving logistical and financial support from the occupation,” the senior source said, adding that the number is an estimate that will continue to be updated when new information comes to light.
The extent of militia collaboration, revealed
The security officer in the Ministry of Interior spoke to Mondoweiss about the extent of the collaboration between the militias and the Israeli army, claiming that interrogations with captured members reveal that the groups are not only funded, armed, and supplied by the army, but are also given assignments to conduct security sweeps and even to launch attacks against resistance fighters.
“They occasionally try to raid some areas near where the occupation is stationed,” the security source said. “But the security forces confront them and carry out operations against them.”
In north Gaza, Ashraf al-Mansi leads a militant group that calls itself the “People’s Army.” Last week, he released a video statement warning Hamas against approaching the areas under his control, which are close to the Erez Crossing in northern Gaza. A video investigation by Sky News shows al-Mansi’s group receiving support and aid from the Israeli army in areas under its control.
But the security source says that Mansi’s group is the “weakest” of the armed gangs in terms of equipment, organization, and capabilities. “They are active in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia, and are very close to Israeli forces near the yellow line that was drawn as part of the ceasefire agreement,” the source clarified, explaining that this has made it difficult to carry out operations against al-Mansi, given that Hamas is avoiding any clashes with Israeli forces.
The source added that Israeli support for the militias has not stopped since the ceasefire. “We arrested a number of gang members, and our interrogations revealed that the occupation has been supplying them with weapons that belong to the resistance, which were confiscated from Gaza,” the source said. “But the occupation does not allow them to possess advanced weapons like the ones used by its soldiers. Apparently, the occupation does not trust these elements and their leadership.”
“All they possess are Kalashnikov rifles, pistols, and modern four-wheel-drive vehicles,” the source continued. “But we have not observed any heavy weapons or armored vehicles, which may be reserved only for their leaders. According to our interrogations with gang members, the occupation handed their leaders sums of money to fund their operations, in addition to providing them with food, supplies, and other goods.”
The source clarified that Abu Shabab’s militia is the most dangerous group in the Strip, and has been receiving the lion’s share of Israel’s largesse. “They have a greater variety of weapons and armament because they are assigned missions,” the source explained. “We have recordings with those members confirming the direct link of their militias to the occupation, including direct assignments by soldiers to members to carry out killings, kidnappings, and torture.”
Some of these kidnappings were widely publicized over the past few months. On July 21, an unknown armed group abducted Dr. Marwan al-Hums in Rafah, who is the head of hospitals in Gaza’s Health Ministry. Fingers were pointed at Abu Shabab’s group, but no further details were revealed. On October 2, his daughter, who is a nurse, was also abducted in Khan Younis, with locals making similar accusations that the kidnappers were associated with Abu Shabab.
The security source said that confessions also confirmed the participation of those groups in military operations on behalf of the Israeli army. “Militia members sweep areas where the army is operating, before the soldiers enter,” he explained.
Citing military sources, Israeli news outlet Mako reported last week that Hamas had seized at least 45 vehicles and hundreds of Kalashnikovs, machine guns, ammunition, and even grenades, in addition to cash provided by the Israeli army.
The security officer who spoke to Mondoweiss declined to comment on the supplies that Hamas has taken from the militias. “These details cannot be discussed at the present time, but we are preparing to reveal a large part of them in the coming period,” the source said, adding that the information will “shock everyone.”
The source said the resistance has found information “exposing the cooperation of regional countries in supporting those groups and providing them with equipment and funding.”
“Direct funding is carried out through those countries, as well as through entities within the Palestinian Authority, all under the supervision of the occupation’s army,” the source added.
Hamas had earlier declared an “amnesty window” for militia members who handed themselves into the resistance group, guaranteeing that they would be pardoned so long as they were not involved in any killing or bloodshed. The window officially expired last Sunday.
While the sweeping Hamas crackdown has garnered international condemnation, including from UN officials widely recognized as supportive of Palestinian rights, tribal leaders in Gaza have voiced support for the campaign, including the public execution of collaborators.
The security source said that the Hamas campaign is not over. “We are monitoring and carrying out arrests of collaborators in various parts of the Strip, and we continue to work to launch security campaigns to eliminate these groups,” the source explained. “We have also sent messages to members that amnesty will be granted to those who lay down their arms and surrender, unless they were involved in killings and executions of Palestinians or resistance fighters.”
“In the coming days, there will be a security campaign that is the largest yet, and it will be on multiple fronts, in the places where those groups are present,” the source added.
Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill and Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah discuss a recent interview on Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hadath with Sheikh Husni al-Mughni, head of the Supreme Committee for Palestinian Tribal Affairs, from Nuseirat.
“Al-Mughni:
My sister, please understand: there are no functioning courts, no police, no judiciary right now. What exists is field justice.
Tell me — when a 10-year-old boy goes out to bring home a little flour for his siblings because his father was martyred, and someone attacks him, steals the flour, and kills him in the street — who will hold those killers accountable? These people have to be rooted out. They’re a corrupt element that doesn’t belong to our society.”
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🟢 Leader of Gaza’s Largest Tribal Assembly on Executions: “Justice Was Served — We Stand Heart and Soul with Hamas”
In a tense exchange on Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hadath — a channel hostile to the Palestinian resistance — Sheikh Husni al-Mughni, head of the Supreme Committee for Palestinian Tribal Affairs, defended Hamas’s execution of men accused of collaborating with Israel and spreading disorder during the war.
Pressed about the absence of courts or “due process,” al-Mughni – who represents a key voice of Palestinian civil society – said Gaza’s security forces imposed field justice against gangs that “killed, looted, and terrorized dozens of civilians.” The accused were long known to the public, he said, adding that “they had stolen aid convoys, and were disowned by their families under tribal law. “Hamas warned these people several times, through mediators and family members, to surrender and face justice. Those who did were investigated. Those who resisted fought the police, leading to what happened,” he explained.
Rejecting Al-Hadath’s framing of “lawlessness,” al-Mughni replied: “There are no courts now — but when someone murders a ten-year-old child for a bag of flour, he deserves death and worse.” He said the tribes stood “heart and soul” with Hamas, calling the executed “a deviant, corrupt faction created by Israel.”
Asked who holds Hamas accountable, al-Mughni said internal mechanisms exist to punish violations but warned that leaving such justice to rival clans “would mean civil war.” He closed bluntly: “We are fully satisfied. These criminals violated every custom and every tradition while our people died under the rubble.
missing link
https://youtu.be/2p_U3XxFJs0?si=yQECTju_bUIuvGKY
Reasons to question the viability of an independant state and to explore possible ways to make a bi-national state work.
Presumably the test for who is “backed and funded by the Israeli army” is simply any group or person who objects to Hamas reasserting complete control. And pointing out that Hamas’ decisions directly led to war, destruction and deprivation is enough to get a bullet in the head.