New anti-Hamas militia springs up in northern Gaza as Shabab militia establishes ‘Hamas-free’ area in southern strip

After the apparently successful establishment of a Hamas-free zone in the southern Gaza Strip by the Popular Forces militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a similar militia has appeared in the northern part of the enclave, according to Palestinian reports.

Over the past months, the group led by Abu Shabab and tacitly supported by Israel has “secured several square kilometers of land that have been home to my Bedouin tribe, the Tarabin, for generations,” Abu Shabab wrote in a column that was published in the Wall Street Journal last weekend.

On Sunday, Israel Hayom cited Palestinian sources who said that a new militia, which they claimed was “established by the IDF,” had sprung up in the al-Baduya area of northern Gaza and is helping the Israeli military fight Hamas.

According to the report, the new militia is being led by Baha Balousha, an officer with the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces who keeps in contact with the PA leadership in Ramallah.

Balousha reportedly hails from a prominent family in Gaza, maintains strong ties with senior Palestinian Authority officials, and has served as an important middleman “managing border crossings, message exchanges with Israel, and financial matters,” Israel Hayom reported.

Unlike the Shabab militia, which is actively engaged in combat against Hamas, Balousha’s group is reportedly focused – for now – on gathering intelligence to support IDF operations within the enclave.

Although sources within Gaza-based terror groups allege that the force under his command numbers fewer than 10 members, Hamas appears sufficiently concerned to have begun issuing threats against them.

Hamas-affiliated media outlets offered amnesty to members of the group if they stopped collaborating with Israel, while warning that those who did not would be “dealt with.”

The report also mentioned claims that Balousha and Abu Shabab are in contact, possibly to coordinate their activities.

In one of the clearest signs of Hamas’ growing concern over the phenomenon, sources within the group alleged that the IDF intends to establish additional militias modeled after it – suggesting Hamas views them as a genuine threat.

“While most of Gaza continues to suffer under the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel, things are very different for thousands living in eastern Rafah – for us, the war is already over,” Abu Shabab wrote in his column.

“We aren’t an ideological movement, but a pragmatic one. Our primary goal is to separate Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas from the fire of war.”

He claimed that through the work of his several hundred gunmen, his neighborhood has been Hamas-free for the last seven weeks, with armed patrols repelling attempts to enter by other armed groups.

“As a result, life here no longer feels like life in Gaza. In eastern Rafah, people have access to shelter, food, water, and basic medical supplies – all without fear of Hamas stealing aid or of being caught in the crossfire with the Israeli military.”

“This should not be the exception in Gaza – it can be the model, the new norm. The vast majority of Gazans reject Hamas. They don’t want it to remain in power after the war ends.”

“But though they hate Hamas, they still fear it,“ he emphasized, noting that his own family only turned against the terror group after the terror group killed his brother and cousin.

Abu Shabab concluded, “From eastern Rafah – where families now sleep safely under civil protection – I can see Gaza’s future. The question is: Will the world help build it with us, free from the ideologies of violence and terror?“