- Gaza’s Hamas-run court has given Gaza’s gang leader, Abu Shabab, 10 days to surrender.
- Gazan authorities also warned that anyone found harbouring or concealing Abu Shabab would be considered complicit in aiding a fugitive and subject to legal consequences.
Gaza’s Revolutionary Court has issued a 10-day deadline for Abu Shabab, a man accused of serious national security offences, to turn himself in, warning that failure to do so will result in a trial in absentia while being declared a fugitive.
Yasser Jihad Mansour Abu Shabab, 35, is the leader of the Popular Forces group, which stands accused of collaborating with Israel to loot humanitarian aid.
The court has accused him of:
- Treason and collaboration with hostile entities, in violation of Article 131
- Forming an armed gang, under Article 176
- Armed insurrection, as per Article 168
Shortly after the court’s announcement, a statement was released by Abu Shabab’s supporters in a post on a Facebook page that usually carried the group’s announcements, denouncing the charges as politically motivated and rejecting the authority of Hamas’ judiciary.
In a post he is quoted as saying: “Brother Yasser Abu Shabab is safe and will return soon with major national projects aimed at justice, dignity, and service to our people.
“These illegitimate courts are tools of repression with no popular legitimacy.
“They should prosecute those responsible for dragging our people into the catastrophe of October 7, leading to famine and the attempted erasure of our cause.”
Hamas has not yet responded publicly to the statements.
Popular Forces’ broader alleged coordination with Israel
The court charges come after huge controversy when the Israeli Prime Minister admitted in public that ‘Israel’ has “activated” certain Palestinian clans in Gaza to counter Hamas.
An Israeli official later confirmed the move was indeed directed at supporting the Popular Forces.
The gang has been accused by aid workers and Palestinian officials of attacking and looting aid coming into Gaza, resulting in them being labelled a criminal organisation, although reports suggest Israel had armed and tasked the group to do the very opposite, to help secure food convoys run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, despite their criminal reputation.
Nahed Sheheiber, head of Gaza’s private transport union, had previously accused Abu Shabab’s supporters of repeated attacks on aid trucks.
He said: “The ones who looted aid are now the ones protecting it.”
After the coordination between the Israeli military and Abu Shabab’s group became public knowledge, the family of Abu Shabab itself had disavowed him, saying he and his followers no longer represent them and denounced his alleged ties with the ‘Israeli’ military.
