Hamas safety officer says group has misplaced management over most of Gaza

A senior officer in Hamas’s safety forces has advised the BBC the Palestinian armed group has misplaced about 80% of its management over the Gaza Strip and that armed clans are filling the void.

The lieutenant colonel mentioned Hamas’s command and management system had collapsed as a result of months of Israeli strikes which have devastated the group’s political, army and safety management.

The officer was wounded within the first week of the warfare, which started after the Hamas-led assault on Israel on 7 October 2023, and has since stepped away from his duties for well being causes.

He shared a number of voice messages with the BBC on situation of anonymity.

Within the messages, the officer painted an image of Hamas’s inside disintegration and the near-total collapse of safety throughout Gaza, which the group ruled earlier than the battle.

“Let’s be lifelike right here – there’s barely something left of the safety construction. A lot of the management, about 95%, are actually useless… The lively figures have all been killed,” he mentioned. “So actually, what’s stopping Israel from persevering with this warfare?”

“Logically, it has to proceed till the top. All of the circumstances are aligned: Israel has the higher hand, the world is silent, the Arab regimes are silent, legal gangs are in all places, society is collapsing.”

Final September, Israel’s then-defence minister declared that “Hamas as a army formation now not exists” and that it was engaged in guerrilla warfare.

In response to the officer, Hamas tried to regroup in the course of the 57-day ceasefire with Israel earlier this yr, reorganizing its political, army, and safety councils.

However since Israel ended the truce in March, it has focused Hamas’s remaining command buildings, leaving the group in disarray.

“In regards to the safety scenario, let me be clear: it has fully collapsed. Completely gone. There is no management wherever,” he mentioned.

“Individuals looted essentially the most highly effective Hamas safety equipment (Ansar), the complicated which Hamas used to rule Gaza.

“They looted every part, the workplaces – mattresses, even zinc panels – and no-one intervened. No police, no safety.”

The officer mentioned a consequence of the safety vacuum was gangs or armed clans have been “in all places”.

“They may cease you, kill you. Nobody would intervene. Anybody who tried to behave on their very own, like organising resistance towards thieves, was bombed by Israel inside half an hour.

“So, the safety scenario is zero. Hamas’s management is zero. There is no management, no command, no communication. Salaries are delayed, and once they do arrive, they’re barely usable. Some die simply attempting to gather them. It is whole collapse.”

On 26 June, at least 18 people were killed when an Israeli drone strike targeted a plainclothes Hamas police unit trying to say management over a market in Deir al-Balah, accusing distributors of value gouging and promoting looted assist, witnesses and medics mentioned.

The Israeli army mentioned it struck “a number of armed terrorists” belonging to Hamas’s Inside Safety Forces.

On this vacuum, six armed teams affiliated with highly effective native clans have emerged as severe contenders to fill the void, in line with the officer.

These teams have entry to cash, weapons and males, and are lively throughout all of Gaza, however principally within the south.

Considered one of them is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a determine who has attracted consideration from the Palestinian Authority, which relies within the occupied West Financial institution and is a rival to Hamas, in addition to regional gamers – significantly after Israel confirmed final month that it was supplying him with weapons.

The officer confirmed that Hamas had positioned a big bounty on Abu Shabab’s head, fearing he may change into a unifying determine for its many enemies.

“Hamas would ignore odd thieves. Persons are hungry and [the fighters] do not wish to provoke extra chaos. However this man? If the Hamas fighters discover him, they may go after him as an alternative of Israeli tanks.”

Sources in Gaza advised the BBC that Abu Shabab was working to co-ordinate with different armed teams to kind a joint council geared toward toppling Hamas.

A retired Palestinian safety official, who was a part of the power that cracked down on Hamas’s army wing in 1996 following a wave of bombings in Israel, mentioned Abu Shabab’s community was gaining traction.

“Abu Shabab’s group is like an orphaned youngster who everybody will wish to undertake if he succeeds in undermining Hamas rule,” mentioned the official, who now lives in Cairo.

“Publicly, all sides deny hyperlinks to the armed teams in Gaza. However Abu Shabab has met a senior Palestinian intelligence officer 3 times and despatched messages of assurance to the Egyptians via family members in Sinai,” he claimed.

He additionally mentioned Abu Shabab “maintains good ties with Mohammad Dahlan’s camp”. Dahlan is a former Gaza safety chief who has lived in exile since he fell out with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas 15 years in the past.

The Hamas safety officer warned the group was “keen to do something” to get rid of Abu Shabab not due to his present army power, however out of worry he may change into an emblem round which all of Hamas’s adversaries rally.

“For 17 years, Hamas made enemies in all places. If somebody like Abu Shabab can rally these forces, that may very well be the start of the top for us.”

As Gaza is plunged additional into lawlessness, with total neighbourhoods descending into gang rule, Hamas finds itself not slightly below Israeli hearth however more and more surrounded by rivals from inside.