New Gaza

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New Gaza
CountryFile:Flag of Palestine.svg Palestine
Groups
Active regionsIsraeli-controlled areas behind the Yellow Line in the Gaza strip
Battles and wars

New Gaza is a united front[1] of Israeli-backed militias in the Gaza Strip. The front was declared by Husam al-Astal, leader of the Counter-Terrorism Strike Force. Al-Astal claims to have the support of various other anti-Hamas Gazan militias including the Popular Forces, the Popular Army – Northern Forces and the Shuja'iyya Popular Defense Forces.[2][3] The stated goal of the front is to remove Hamas from power.[1]

Background

Main article: Societal breakdown in the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war

During the course of the Gaza war, societal breakdown across the Gaza Strip caused by offensives launched by the Israel Defense Forces has caused: starvation, famine, lack of supplies and a weaker Hamas, created by the conflict has led to the rise of anti-Hamas armed elements in the Gaza Strip.[4][5]

Members

Main article: Popular Forces

The Popular Forces were led by Yasser Abu Shabab (before his death 4 December 2025), a local clan leader,[6] gangster,[7] and former drug trafficker convicted and imprisoned by the Hamas government.[8] Abu Shabab was arrested by Hamas in 2015 on drug trafficking charges and sentenced to 25 years in Asda prison, located in Khan Yunis. The group was created after Abu Shabab escaped from the prison as it was bombed by Israel in October 2023. Reportedly, after his escape, Abu Shabab headed to the Kerem Shalom border crossing and assembled a force of a few hundred men, exerting control over the territory near it.[9]

Under its current form and name, the group emerged in Rafah in May 2024 amid Israel's Rafah offensive. According to sources, members of the group belonged to earlier Salafi jihadist factions that opposed Hamas,[10] former Palestinian officers,[11] and known criminals.[12][13][14] The group has 300 men, 50 of whom were personally recruited by Abu Shahab, while the other 250 men were allegedly recruited through the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence services.[10] The gang controls much of the Nasr neighborhood in eastern Rafah, which was significantly damaged by bombing from the IDF, as well as aid routes around the Keram Shalom border crossing, including territory 1.5 km from the crossing.[15][13] The Popular Forces has also expanded into Khan Yunis, north of Rafah.[16]

The Popular Forces are armed with assault rifles and equipped with radios and night-vision goggles.[17] Denying being armed by Israel, Abu Shabab claimed that the Popular Forces were funded by "individual efforts and donations" and that they were armed with "primitive weapons" which were inherited from local tribes. He claimed that his group was a humanitarian effort and that it was allowing families to escape from "war and famine".[18] Abu Shabab stated that his group were grassroots forces[19] and that they were not an official authority, nor were they operating under control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).[15] However, Abu Shabab had stated that his militia operates "under Palestinian legitimacy", ostensibly a reference to the PA.[20][21] Major General Anwar Rajab, spokesman of the Palestinian Authority security services, told CNN that there were no connections between the PA and the Popular Forces.[21] The Guardian noted that Abu Shabab's statements often appeared contradictory and in contradiction to previous statements or verifiable evidence.[8]

Counter-Terrorism Service

Main article: Counter-Terrorism Service (Gaza)

The Counter-Terrorism Service is the Popular Forces' armed wing, the CTS was led by the Deputy Commander of the Popular Forces, Ghassan Duhine, until Yasser Abu Shabab's death in an ambush in December 2025.[22][23]

Shawqi Abu Nasira group

Main article: Popular Army in Rafah

The Popular Army in Rafah is an anti-Hamas Palestinian militant group led by Shawqi Abu Nasira, a former Palestinian Authority officer.[24] His group reportedly operates as part of the Popular Forces and is composed of around 30 fighters.[25]

Shawqi Abu Nasira, a former Palestinian Authority lieutenant colonel and Fatah member,[26] leads the anti-Hamas Popular Army in Rafah militia which based in eastern Khan Yunis. While the existence of the group was only revealed in late November 2025, it had reportedly already been active for several months. Abu Nasira has stated that his group is not collaborating with Israel, and has stated that Iran, which supports Hamas, is the enemy "of Islam and Sunnis". The rest of the Abu Nasira family has disavowed him.[27]

During the 1980s, Abu Nasira was reportedly imprisoned by Israel for militant activity, and briefly escaped from prison. Following his release and the implementation of the Oslo Accords, he joined the nascent Palestinian Authority security forces. Abu Nasira's son was reportedly killed during the Gaza war.[28]

Abu Nasira claims that he is in contact with other anti-Hamas militant groups on establishing a united front called the "National Guard for East Gaza".[29]

Ashraf al-Mansi group

Main article: People's Army Northern Forces

A northern Gaza militia, which has been referred to by the names "The People’s Army – Forces of Northern Gaza"[30] or "People’s Army Northern Forces"[31] is reportedly operating in Beit Lahia and Jabalia as part of the Popular Forces.[32] The militia is led by the Gaza City resident Ashraf al-Mansi. Following the 10 October ceasefire, Hamas forces redeployed in Jabalia and its refugee camp, where they reportedly launched a crackdown on the al-Mansi group, arresting and killing its members.[33] However, on 14 October, al-Mansi released a video where he denied that a Hamas crackdown had taken place, announced that his group managed to take control of several areas in northern Gaza, and warned Hamas forces against approaching their territories.[34]

Main article: Shuja'iyya Popular Defense Forces

By July 2025, during Israel's offensive in Shuja'iyya, a group led by Rami Khalas was active and receiving Israeli protection and operational cover, though Ynet misidentified it as the entire Khalas clan and misidentified Rami Khalas as clan leader.[35][36] The clan later denied any collaboration with Israel.[37] Rami Khalas is a former member of the PA security services, and is from the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City.[38] Like the rest of the Khalas clan, he is reportedly aligned with Fatah.[38][39][40]

The Shuja'iyya Popular Defense Forces was erroneously initially conflated with the entire Khalas clan,[41][42] but is now known to be a "rogue faction" that has been disavowed by clan leadership.[43][44][45]

According to The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, citing Palestinian media, by September the Shuja'iyya Popular Defense Forces was conducting surveillance, attacks and abductions under the supervision of an Israeli intelligence officer.[46][47][48]

Clashes between Hamas and the Shuja'iyya Popular Defense Forces subsequently intensified.[49] Hamas forces attacked the SPDF group, which retreated eastward alongside withdrawing Israeli forces.[50]

Counter-Terrorism Strike Force

Main article: Counter-Terrorism Strike Force

The CSF was founded on 21 August 2025 during the societal breakdown within Gaza, stating to combat the "repression and terrorism practiced by Hamas". It is based in and controls the village of Kizan al-Najjar, south of Khan Yunis.[51][52]

The group is led by Husam Al-Astal (also spelt Hossam Al-Astal), a Palestinian Bedouin who worked in Israel and then worked for the Palestinian Authority security forces when they still controlled Gaza. He has spoken favorably about the era of direct Israeli military rule in Gaza prior to the 2005 disengagement. Astal was previously imprisoned and given a death sentence by Hamas for his involvement with Israel, and was accused of involvement in the 2018 assassination of a Hamas-associated engineer in Malaysia.[53] Before founding the CSF, Ynet reported that al-Astal was a member of the Popular Forces.[54]

CSF leadership appears to consist largely of figures affiliated with Fatah, from al-Astal's extended family.[55]

The neoconservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies said that the CSF is supported by Israel's Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces.[56] According to the Jerusalem Post the CSF and the Popular Forces are reportedly in contact with one another but work independently.[53]

See also

References

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