In all the excitement and hope over the obliteration of Iran's nuclear capabilities between Israel's almost two-week-old offensive and our magnificent bunker-busting coup de grâce, what has been a little overlooked has been the state of Iran's favorite regional proxy to torment the Jewish state - Hamas.
The Palestinian terrorist group that has long held the Gaza Strip in its evil thrall is losing its grip.
Fallen on challenging, even hard times, if you will.
Isn't that neat?
For one thing, the campaign against Iran in no way meant the Israelis had slacked off pounding Hamas and its slippery forces in the Palestinian territory. Those offensive operations didn't let up for a moment. Hamas is in desperate need of a ceasefire or any pause they can wrangle to effect a breather. It sure doesn't look like they're going to get one.
Part of the reason that Hamas is reeling is that not only has constant and unrelenting Israeli pressure taken its toll, but the actions of Hamas themselves, their bloodthirsty barbarity and unmitigated brutality ruling the Palestinians in Gaza with an iron fist, have given rise to a tribal resistance movement within Gaza actively working against the terror group. It doesn't hurt at all that the Israelis have recognized these anti-Hamas elements and are openly supporting them.
When Hamas enforcement thug units strike at those who defy them, as they recently did by killing a 14-year-old member of a Gazan clan, now there is almost instant retaliation and retribution instead of the years of cowering obedience the terrorists have received.
- Palestinians Besiege Hamas’s Arrow Unit at Hospital: Several Gaza-based social media accounts have reported on a gun battle at a hospital in southern Gaza between Hamas and armed men belonging to the Khan Younis-based Palestinian Barbakh family. According to a report on the “Palestine Eagle” channel on Telegram, a member of the family was shot dead by members of Hamas’s Arrow Unit, which is responsible for crushing Palestinians opposed to the terror group’s rule, who then fled into the city’s Nasser Hospital. Images of heavy fires and vandalism inside the hospital complex were posted at the height of the battle, while gunfire can be heard in videos.
Gunfire is clearly audible in the videos, and the translations (below) describe the fighting in and around the hospital where the besieged terrorists took shelter.
לפי הדיווחים בעזה, התקרית הובילה לחילופי אש עצימים בתוך בית החולים ובסביבתו, עשן נראה מיתמר באזור. ברצועה דיווחו על 20 הרוגים ופצועים, 3 אמבולנסים ו-3 רכבים ניזוקו והכניסה לבית החולים נהרסה לחלוטין
— ספיר ליפקין | Sapir Lipkin | سابير ليبكين (@sapirlipkin) June 26, 2025
->> pic.twitter.com/eE98tqiY0U
...Unusual incident at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis | Clashes between the Barbakh clan and Hamas's Arrow Unit. The trigger: The militants opened fire towards the son of the Barbakh clan’s mukhtar in Mawasi, Khan Yunis, and as a result, the clan attacked the activists at Nasser Hospital
...According to reports from Gaza, the incident led to intense exchanges of fire inside and around the hospital, with smoke seen rising from the area. In the Strip, 20 people were reported killed and injured, 3 ambulances and 3 vehicles were damaged,
Hamas has put out a hit on another one of those shadowy fellows that inhabit their world, a guy named Yasser Abu Shabab, There are rumors of him having been an ISIS war lord, a drug king pin, all sorts of nefarious and very Middle Eastern resume enhancers.
Shabab denies working with the Israeli Defense Forces, although he does acknowledge his ties to the Palestinian Authority. Whatever his allegiances, they do not include Hamas.
...“We are not working with Israel,” Yasser Abu Shabab told Army Radio, denying having met with any Israeli official in the past year.
His militia is not armed with weapons from Israel, he added. “They are simple weapons that we collected from the local population.”
The Prime Minister’s Office and a security source on Thursday declined to refute claims made by Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman that Israel is arming crime families and militias in Gaza to fight Hamas.
Despite denying cooperation with Israel, Abu Shabab did not rule out the possibility of coordinating with the IDF in the future, clarifying that it would be for humanitarian purposes.
It also depends on which side of the aisle is describing Shabab. One has him as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the other paints him as a Gazan Robin Hood.
"We've seen an internal UN document from late last year that describes Abu Shabab as a criminal, a gang leader, and a leading figure in the systematic looting of humanitarian aid."
— Adil Haque (@AdHaque110) June 10, 2025
"It says his base is in an area controlled by the Israeli military." pic.twitter.com/R8IMM61pzj
While the truth of the matter probably lies somewhere closer to the middle - he claims the ISIS rumors are a big fat lie - the fact is that Shabab and his group are a thorn in the side of the Hamas hierarchy that's left, they want him gone, and he has managed to stay alive while operating out of Israeli-controlled territory.
...To counter the immediate threat, Hamas has sent some of its top fighters to kill one rebellious leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, but so far he has remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area held by Israeli troops, according to two Hamas sources and two other sources familiar with the situation.
...One of the most prominent challenges has come from Abu Shabab, a Palestinian Bedouin based in the Rafah area, which is under Israeli control.
Hamas wants Abu Shabab captured, dead or alive, accusing him of collaboration with Israel and planning attacks on the Islamist group, three Hamas sources told Reuters.
Abu Shabab controls eastern Rafah, and his group is believed to have freedom of movement in the wider Rafah area. Images on their Facebook page show their armed men organizing the entry of aid trucks from the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Announcements by his group indicate that it is trying to build an independent administration in the area, though they deny trying to become a governing authority. The group has called on people from Rafah now in other areas of Gaza to return home, promising food and shelter.
In response to Reuters' questions, Abu Shabab's group denied getting support from Israel or contacts with the Israeli army, describing itself as a popular force protecting humanitarian aid from looting by escorting aid trucks.
The Free Press managed to get in for an interview with Shabab.
🚨 Hamas police claim to have just killed 12 members of this Israeli-backed militia in Gaza.
— The Free Press (@TheFP) June 12, 2025
Who is this new group?
We got a rare interview with their leader: Yasser Abu Shabab. https://t.co/NAfHe5x0O7
Hamas has also lost an integral part of their former hide and strike successes - the group's extensive tunnel network under Gaza has seen 25% of its subterranean extent destroyed [Beege: I went back and double-checked exactly how much] under determined Israeli hunt and seek efforts. Hamas can run, but there are very few places left to hide.
And every day, there are fewer Palestinians willing to hide them.
..."They're hiding because they are being instantly hit by planes, but they appear here and there, organizing queues in front of bakeries, protecting aid trucks, or punishing criminals," said Essam, 57 a construction worker in Gaza City.
But they're not dead yet.
Hananel Aviv:
— Imshin (@imshin) June 25, 2025
"This is how Hamas continues to receive aid and supplies through international organizations, and the UN, in cooperation with clans and tribes that work with Hamas.
This morning, a number of tribes and clans in the Gaza Strip announced an agreement between the UN… https://t.co/uiUdtqmD8c pic.twitter.com/QVfia9ML5p
...This morning, a number of tribes and clans in the Gaza Strip announced an agreement between the UN and international organizations to bring aid not through the American company (GHF) that distributes the aid, but directly to the north of the Gaza Strip and the south.
27 trucks carrying medicine entered the north of the Gaza Strip this morning, about 40 more to the south of the Gaza Strip. Some of the trucks reached merchants who obviously work with Hamas and they were unloaded in warehouses.
Of course, in order for this to succeed, Hamas terrorists and armed men identified with the tribes and clans took over the trucks and fired into the air during the journey after entering through the crossings, to prevent the Gazans from robbing the trucks.
Hamas has an agreement with the clans and merchants; the merchants and clans must pay tax to Hamas.
Hamas itself took part of the aid to the warehouses in Gaza City, according to Gazan sources.
While everyone expects to see how the distribution of American company (GHF) immediately throws Hamas out of control, on the ground this is not happening, Hamas, since the resumption of the introduction of aid and supplies to the enemy, is working with the UN, international organizations, tribes, clans and merchants, using the aid for financial purposes, and for the purpose of controlling the population, and maintaining its status..."
Even as their sugar daddies in Iran have been taken out...
...One target of Israel's campaign in Iran was a Revolutionary Guards officer who oversaw coordination with Hamas. Israel said Saeed Izadi, whose death it announced on Saturday, was the driving force behind the Iran-Hamas axis.
Hamas extended condolences to Iran on Thursday, calling Izadi a friend who was directly responsible for ties with "the leadership of the Palestinian resistance."
A source from an Iran-backed group in the region said Izadi helped develop Hamas capabilities, including how to carry out complex attacks, including rocket launches, infiltration operations, and drones.
...Hamas still has powerful friends in the UN and the media.
It's more than a flesh wound, and they could be bleeding out.
