The head of an anti-Hamas militia in Gaza was quoted on Sunday giving comments to an Israeli media outlet and a US nonprofit on his group’s operations in the enclave, in which he denied ties to Israel.

Defense sources confirmed on Thursday that Israel has been arming a criminal gang in the Strip as part of an effort to strengthen opposition to Hamas in the enclave. The group in question is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a member of a large clan in southern Gaza. It has been linked in the past to smuggling operations with Egyptian jihadist groups.

The revelation led to intense criticism within Israel.

Ostensibly speaking to Army Radio in a series of text messages, the veracity of which has not been confirmed, Abu Shabab said: “We do not work with Israel. Our goal is to protect the Palestinians from Hamas terror. Our weapons are not from Israel — they are simple arms we collected from the local population.”

He added that “these rumors are meant to harm our reputation and create hostility between us, Israel, and Arab states.”

Abu Shabab denied having any meetings with Israeli officials, while saying that “if any coordination takes place it will be humanitarian, for the benefit of our people in eastern Rafah, and will be carried out through mediation channels.”

Meanwhile, the Center for Peace Communications, which bills itself as an organization committed to revealing the plight of those living under the rule of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, published what it called an “exclusive first public statement” from Abu Shabab. It is not clear how it obtained the audio clip, which also could not be verified.

In it, the person identifying himself as Abu Shabab also denied “working with the occupation,” while calling on Hamas to “step down from government.” He asserted, “We have hundreds of families heading to the areas we control daily.”

Abu Shabab’s gang has been documented in recent days operating in an area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which is under Israeli military control.

In the footage, published online by Abu Shabab, members of the group can be seen wearing military-style uniforms with the Palestinian flag and the words “Counter-Terrorism Mechanism” emblazoned on them.

Sources have confirmed that Israel has been arming the gang with Kalashnikov rifles, including some that were seized from Hamas during the ongoing war.

The decision to start arming the group was made without the approval of Israel’s security cabinet, forgoing normal procedure. It was instead led by Israeli security bodies, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval, the defense sources said.

The militia has been operating in Rafah, in an area under Israeli military control. Abu Shabab has claimed to be securing the humanitarian aid convoys entering Israel through the southern border crossings, although others have accused his gang of looting them.

According to Hamas sources who spoke with the Lebanese Al-Akhbar outlet, the militia comprises some 300 people, of whom Abu Shabab personally recruited around 50. They alleged that the remaining 250 members were recruited through the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence service.

The Hamas sources did not offer proof of Abu Shabab’s alleged ties to the Ramallah-based PA, and Al-Akhbar did not verify any of the terror group’s claims.

The group emerged in Rafah in May 2024, following the IDF invasion of the Strip’s southernmost city, the Hamas sources said. They told Al-Akhbar that the Al-Qassam Brigades have “already started carrying out direct assassinations” of members of Abu Shabab’s gang, and that its continued existence has fast become a “central issue” for the terror group.

According to the sources, some members of the group belong to an extremist Salafi faction that had run-ins with Hamas prior to the war as well.

This is not the first time that Netanyahu has been involved in or accused of propping up militias and terror groups to undermine a common enemy.

Various reports over the years have indicated that Israel’s policy under Netanyahu was to treat Hamas as an asset that could be used to weaken the Palestinian Authority.

Abu Shabab’s rise in influence in Gaza seemed to be driving Hamas to further repress Palestinians, as demonstrated in a video published on Friday by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which it said shows the execution of a man by Hamas in Gaza City over the weekend.

COGAT published the video on its Arabic-language Facebook page, but did not offer information on its circumstances.

The video can be watched here, with the victim blurred out (graphic content).

“Residents of Gaza — the Hamas terrorists and criminals are killing you and do not care about your lives,” COGAT said. “There is no difference between a dictator who kills in silence and a terrorist who slaughters openly — both are your enemies and enemies of life.

“The shocking documentation before you is yet another desperate, failed attempt to sow fear among the public in order to preserve Hamas’s rule, power, and governance, while trampling on and cynically exploiting the residents of Gaza for the sake of the survival of Hamas’s terrorist regime and its continued rule.”