Hamas Takes Aim at Rival ‘Outcast' Group Amid Gaza Infighting
The opposition faction, known as the Popular Forces and led by Rafah native Yasser Abu Shabab, has entered the spotlight in recent weeks for its open calls to challenge Hamas' authority in Gaza some 20 months into its war with Israel.
The Popular Forces' rise has been surrounded with controversy as current and former Israeli officials had claimed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was actively backing the group to undermine Hamas from within its territory—an allegation confirmed by the premier himself on Thursday. The Popular Forces have denied any connection, claiming they operated under the mandate of the West Bank-based Palestinian National Authority (PA).
The group has previously been accused of looting humanitarian assistance throughout the conflict, while former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has claimed that the Popular Forces had also fostered ties with ISIS.
As Abu Shabab and his militia continue to fend off the allegations, Basem Naim, Hamas Political Bureau member and spokesperson, asserted that the group had little influence in Gaza, marking an apparent blow to Israel's efforts to challenge Hamas' rule in the territory.
"For more than 20 months, Israel has failed to create a Palestinian alternative to the resistance to achieve its goals in Gaza, whether by creating chaos or administering the Gaza Strip," Naim told Newsweek. "Now, it is trying again, through a group of criminals and extremists, to create an alternative."
"This group is ostracized among Palestinians," he added, "some of whom are agents, others drug dealers, thieves, or extremists linked to ISIS."
Naim argued "Israel will not succeed again" in its strategy, " as they forget [German physicist Albert] Einstein's definition of insanity: "using the same inputs and expecting different outputs."
"These groups pose no threat to anyone and are Palestinian outcasts," Naim said. "The only thing they are capable of is murder and banditry."
Newsweek has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Popular Forces for comment.
The Popular Forces first garnered media coverage in May 2024 as the IDF conducted an offensive in the southern city of Rafah. It has sometimes operated under the title of the "Counter-Terrorism Service."
In a December interview with The New York Times, Abu Shabab acknowledged that his group had been involved in stealing humanitarian aid from convoys after being accused by multiple truck drivers, aid workers and locals. He argued then that these actions were undertaken out of a necessity to survive at a time when Hamas also stood accused of raiding supplies and reselling them to raise funds, something Hamas has denied.
The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank describes the Popular Forces as a "Palestinian armed group and criminal gang," estimated to have "have several hundred members, drawn primarily from Abu Shabab's clan which has reported ties to ISIS."
Hamas, on the other hand, is estimated by the IDF to have had a pre-war strength of around 30,000 fighters.
Lieberman, now head of the Yisrael Beiteinu opposition party, was the first to draw a purported connection between the Popular Forces and ISIS, which has a presence in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that borders Gaza, during an interview on Thursday with Israel's Kan Bet radio station.
Lieberman described the Popular Forces and its leader as being linked to the Hamasha clan, referring to them as "lawless criminals who in recent years wanted to give themselves an ideological angle or spin, so they became Salafi and began identifying with ISIS." He warned that any weapons delivered by Israel to the Popular Forces "will eventually be turned against us."
French newspaper Le Monde reported that Abu Shabab was a prominent member of the Bedouin Tarabin tribe, which is present in both Gaza and Sinai.
Allegations of ties between the Popular Forces and ISIS have also since been voiced by other prominent Israeli opposition figures such as Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and The Democrats head Yair Golan.
Following Lieberman's revelation, Netanyahu downplayed the notion of his former minister having leaked information, acknowledging that "on the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas."
"What is bad about that?" Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on Thursday. "It is only good. It is saving lives of Israeli soldiers."
The Popular Forces have repeatedly denied receiving support from Israel. In a post to a Facebook page attributed to the group that same day, the Popular Forces warned that "Israeli media has published false allegations claiming that our Popular Forces received weapons from the occupation."
"We categorically reject these accusations and consider them a blatant attempt to distort the image of a grassroots force born from suffering—one that stood up to injustice, looting, and corruption," the group said.
"Our weapons are simple, outdated, and came through the support of our own people," the group added, "through the sacrifices of families, the donations of civilians, and the determination of young men who found no other way but to protect the aid from being stolen and to defend the families of eastern Rafah."
Abu Shabab reiterated this denial during an interview published Sunday with IDF Radio, though he did not rule out the potential for coordination on humanitarian issues. He also rejected alleged ties with ISIS, saying such "rumors are intended to damage our reputation and create a situation of hostility between us and Israel and the Arab countries."
Abu Shabab's open calls for civilians to seek protection from his group and oppose Hamas have made him and his organization a target for Gaza's most powerful faction.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Abu Shabab was arrested by Hamas for a time until managing to escape amid Israeli airstrikes. A number of Popular Forces personnel have also reportedly been killed and detained by Hamas, including in operations conducted in recent days.
A Quds News Network report published Monday and shared with Newsweek by Naim stated that a Popular Forces member with the initials "A.N." and described as Abu Shabab's right-hand man had been arrested, accused of killing a police officer before the start of the war in Gaza and of colluding with Israel.
A report by Palestinian outlet Al-Resalah described the detainee as a "takfiri"— a term used by critics to describe adherents of extremist interpretations of Salafi Islam, such as ISIS—who had previously traveled to Sinai, according to unnamed security sources.
The report also identified another leading member of the Popular Forces as Ghassan al-Dahini, who was said to have pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015 and to have participated in the March 2007 kidnapping of BBC News journalist Alan Johnston, who was released that July.
While Hamas and ISIS are both widely viewed as Islamist militant groups designated terrorist organizations by Israel and the United States, they clash ideologically and often condemn one another.
The former has its roots as an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement in the 1980s and seeks to establish an Islamist Palestinian state in place of Israel, while the latter emerged from Al-Qaeda in Iraq in the early 2010s, seeking to establish a multinational caliphate spanning vast territory across Africa, Asia and Europe.
Since taking over Gaza in a violent rift with the PA's leading nationalist Fatah faction in 2007, Hamas has sought to suppress Salafi jihadi groups tied to Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Amid the current war, sparked by a Hamas-led surprise attack against Israel in October 2023, Hamas has coalesced with groups across a broad ideological spectrum, from fellow Islamists to far-leftists.
They include Palestinian Islamic Jihad; the Popular Resistance Committees; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command; the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades; and the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement.
These factions have increasingly participated in joint operations against the IDF, and the coalition has thus far largely withstood wartime pressure.
At the same time, following several instances of rare protests among Gaza residents calling for Hamas to end the war, pressure has also built on the group to produce results amid deadlocked negotiations being mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine recently urged Hamas "to intensify efforts, in cooperation with the Arab mediators, to reach an agreement to halt the aggression—even if only for 60 days."
A spokesperson for the group later told Newsweek that the message "was an attempt by us to reach a 'partial step' that would guarantee a ceasefire, open the crossings, and meet the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza because we observed that living conditions had worsened and that the specter of famine was beginning to loom large."
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has also faced mounting pressure from the international community and domestic voices to reach a ceasefire.
But with talks being hosted in Qatar dragging on without a breakthrough, Israel and the United States have yet to outline a clear plan for what Gaza's postwar governance would look like despite asserting that Hamas would have to be removed from power.
Israeli Deputy Consul General in New York Tsach Saar has previously told Newsweek that neither Hamas nor Israel would be in control of Gaza in a postwar landscape.
Last week, he reiterated this stance, telling Newsweek that "it's not for us to determine who is going to be there the day after [the war is over]."
"We are making sure that it's not going to be Hamas," Saar said. "And when Hamas is defeated, we will have to work together with our allies, with regional countries, surrounding countries, neighboring countries to find a solution for the day after."
President Donald Trump's administration has said relatively little about its ally's announced ties to the Popular Forces in Gaza.
U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Thomas Pigott declined to delve into the specifics of the issue when asked by reporters on Thursday but reiterated the broader U.S. policy on the conflict.
"What I can say is our approach and our policy remains that we stand with Israel, and we stand for peace," Pigott said. "And those are our goals that we want to see."
In addition to providing Israel with extensive military and political support throughout the war, the U.S. has also backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as the only organization approved by Israel to distribute aid in the territory.
While an unnamed diplomatic official cited by CNN on Sunday claimed that Abu Shabab had established some level of direct or indirect contact with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the organization denied any connection in comments shared with the outlet.
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