By: Fern Sidman

In the fractured landscape of post-October 7 Gaza, as Hamas clings to power through crumbling strongholds and the tunnels of fear, a new force has emerged from within — a man and a movement that reflect both the despair of a broken people and the defiant stirrings of a rebellion long in gestation.

Yasser Abu Shabab, a prominent leader of the Tarabin Bedouin clan in southern Gaza, has become the unexpected spearhead of a popular and armed resistance movement challenging the long-entrenched authority of Hamas. In a striking and deeply candid interview with Israel’s Ynet, extensively analyzed by i24 News, Abu Shabab delivered a scathing condemnation of the Islamist rulers of Gaza, calling them “despicable sub-humans” and charging that their leadership has plunged the territory into chaos, despair, and irreversible loss.

“They called me a criminal, a thief, even a member of ISIS,” Abu Shabab told Ynet, describing what he claimed was a calculated smear campaign by Hamas aimed at tarnishing his growing influence. “All of this to scare people. But it didn’t work. Who can still give legitimacy to those who kidnap and kill children, like those from the Bibas family?”

The depth of Abu Shabab’s grievances reflects the broader discontent seething within Gaza’s population, where traditional clan structures, battered civilian communities, and informal networks are being forced to fill the void left by the apparent disintegration of Hamas’s authority. As i24 News reported, the October 7 attacks — in which Hamas-led terrorists murdered over 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages — were a strategic disaster for the people of Gaza, even as Hamas leadership hides underground.

“We have lost everything – homes, belongings, jobs, money – while their leaders live in the tunnels, lacking nothing. Can one imagine a greater injustice?” Abu Shabab said. His words echo a sentiment now quietly shared across much of Gaza, where the images of smoldering buildings and the weight of humanitarian collapse are a direct consequence of the decisions made by those still commanding from the shadows.

According to the information provided in the i24 News report, Abu Shabab has organized an armed militia, now considered a pivotal actor in the shifting balance of power in Gaza. Supplied by Israel with small arms and tactical resources, his group has taken on the role of an emergent security force — protecting neighborhoods, clashing with remnants of Hamas-aligned factions, and offering a controversial but potentially stabilizing alternative to rule-by-fear.

“Every innocent person, from all sides, must be reunited with their family,” Abu Shabab stated, in a rare gesture of empathy that included Israeli hostages as well as Palestinian civilians. “The people of Gaza have already paid an unbearable price because of a deranged terrorist organization.”

In recent days, as reported by i24 News, Abu Shabab’s credibility has only grown. In a Facebook post, he revealed that he had received 6,000 applications from young Gazans eager to join field operations and another 3,000 seeking volunteer roles. Even more telling: 21,000 families — totaling nearly 80,000 people — have formally requested asylum under his informal protection. “Rafah will be the beginning of liberation from the era of oppression and terrorism,” he declared.

The symbolism is potent. Rafah, once Hamas’s southern stronghold and a vital smuggling hub, is now being cast as the cradle of renewal by those seeking to reconstruct Gaza’s political order from the ashes. While Abu Shabab’s vision remains militarized, his rhetoric suggests a break from the ideologies of extermination and martyrdom that have defined Hamas’s rule.

Th i24 News report noted growing cooperation between Abu Shabab’s forces and Israeli military officials, suggesting a pragmatic alignment of interests. For the Israeli Defense Forces, Abu Shabab represents a rare internal ally with both legitimacy on the ground and operational discipline. For Abu Shabab, Israeli backing provides the material leverage he needs to withstand Hamas reprisals and expand his zone of influence.

But the situation is fraught with risk. Abu Shabab’s ascent may trigger intra-clan rivalries or provoke violent retaliation by what remains of Hamas’s intelligence and operational wings. There are also questions in Jerusalem and Washington about how far support for such local actors can go before it invites accusations of foreign puppet-building or undermines longer-term diplomatic solutions.

Still, the i24 News report emphasized that the rise of figures like Abu Shabab is more than a tactical moment — it is a reflection of the crumbling ideological monopoly Hamas has wielded since it seized power in 2007. With Gaza’s civic infrastructure decimated, its international reputation blackened by atrocities, and its population exhausted by war, the vacuum is both existential and literal.

“History may one day record this moment as the pivot,” said an Israeli military official interviewed anonymously by i24 News. “When someone from inside Gaza, from a clan, from the people, stood up and said: ‘This is not who we are. This is not who we want to be.’”

Abu Shabab’s language is not diplomatic — it is visceral, angry, and unvarnished. But that may be exactly what resonates now. In calling Hamas leaders “sub-human,” he speaks from a place of rage shared by families who have lost their homes, their loved ones, their futures — not to Israeli airstrikes alone, but to what he describes as Hamas’s nihilistic adventurism.

His critics, including Palestinian analysts in Ramallah, have warned of the dangers of a warlord dynamic taking root. Yet many in Gaza see his militia not as a symbol of fragmentation, but of reasserted dignity. It remains unclear whether this movement will evolve into a political organization, a transitional authority, or something else entirely. But in the eyes of many — as i24 News reported — Abu Shabab is already “the face of a new Gaza.”

Perhaps most notably, his message breaks with Hamas’s core narrative: that Palestinian liberation can only come through perpetual war, maximalist demands, and unrelenting victimhood. Abu Shabab offers no illusions about peace, but he does offer a plan — one rooted in tribal loyalty, civic order, and a break from theocratic terror.

“We will not leave Gaza. We will continue to fight,” he told Ynet, his tone resolute. If Hamas’s grip on the territory was forged in blood and fear, the battle for its successor may yet be waged in language, ideology, and a new definition of leadership .