An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza near the border with Israel, while destruction from Israeli bombardments fills the landscape in the background, on July 6, 2025. (Credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters)
The head of a Palestinian gang accused of looting aid in the Gaza Strip confirmed on Sunday it was coordinating with the Israeli military in an interview with public radio, AFP reported.
Yasser Abu Shabab said his group, which is known as the Popular Forces and is opposed to Hamas, was able to move freely in zones under Israeli military control and communicated their operations beforehand.
"We keep them informed, but we carry out the military actions on our own," he said in an interview with Makan, Israel's Arabic-language public radio broadcaster.
Abu Shabab also said his group had received "logistical and financial support from several parties," without mentioning Israel directly. "There are things we can't talk about publicly."
Last month, the Israeli authorities admitted to providing support to armed Palestinian groups opposed to Hamas in Gaza, without naming them, though local media reports identified the group in question as Abu Shabab's. "It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time.
Knesset member and ex-defense minister Avigdor Lieberman, however, accused the government of "giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons."
The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank describes Abu Shabab as the head of a criminal gang in the Rafah region of southern Gaza that has been suspected of looting aid trucks.
Abu Shabab did not address the accusation in his radio interview, and stressed that the only goal of his militia was to defeat Hamas and to provide an alternative for governance in the Gaza Strip.
"We do not belong to any ideology or political organization," Abu Shabab said in the interview, claiming that he was seeking to eradicate Hamas' "injustice" and "corruption."
"We will continue to fight, no matter the bloodshed," he added. "Right now, Hamas is dying. They know their end is near."
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, announce intention to assassinate Abu Shabab fighters
A coalition of Palestinian factions in Gaza, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, announced their intention to assassinate members of Abu Shabab in a statement released Sunday.
"These agents act on the orders of the occupation, and they are ostracized by our people and the resistance factions," the coalitions said. "Their fate is in the dustbin of history and a stain of shame before God and the homeland."
The statement praised the Palestinian tribes and families "who renounce the betrayal of this rebellious group," emphasizing that "our people are aware and distinguish well between agents and those loyal to the homeland and our just struggle.
Last Wednesday, Hamas' Revolutionary Court of the Military Judiciary Authority in Gaza gave the gang's 35-year-old leader 10 days to turn himself in for trial, where he would be tried for treason, among other charges.
The head of a Palestinian gang accused of looting aid in the Gaza Strip confirmed on Sunday it was coordinating with the Israeli military in an interview with public radio, AFP reported.
Yasser Abu Shabab said his group, which is known as the Popular Forces and is opposed to Hamas, was able to move freely in zones under Israeli military control and communicated their operations beforehand.
"We keep them informed, but we carry out the military actions on our own," he said in an interview with Makan, Israel's Arabic-language public radio broadcaster.
Abu Shabab also said his group had received "logistical and financial support from several parties," without mentioning Israel directly. "There are things we can't talk about publicly."
Last month, the Israeli authorities...
