A senior officer in Hamas’s security forces has revealed that the Palestinian armed group has lost about 80% of its control over the Gaza Strip, with armed clans filling the void. The lieutenant colonel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Hamas‘s command and control system had collapsed due to months of Israeli strikes that have devastated the group’s political, military, and security leadership. “Let’s be realistic here – there’s barely anything left of the security structure. Most of the leadership, about 95%, are now dead… The active figures have all been killed,” he said.
The officer painted a picture of Hamas’s internal disintegration and the near-total collapse of security across Gaza, which the group governed before the conflict. “About the security situation, let me be clear: it has completely collapsed.
Totally gone. There’s no control anywhere,” he said. People have looted the most powerful Hamas security apparatus, and no one has intervened. The security vacuum has allowed gangs or armed clans to flourish, with six armed groups affiliated with powerful local clans emerging as serious contenders to fill the void.
One of these groups is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a figure who has attracted attention from the Palestinian Authority and regional players. Israel has confirmed that it is supplying Abu Shabab with weapons, and sources in Gaza told the BBC that he is working to coordinate with other armed groups to form a joint council aimed at toppling Hamas.
A retired Palestinian security official said Abu Shabab’s network was gaining traction, comparing his group to an “orphaned child who everyone will want to adopt if he succeeds in undermining Hamas rule”.
The Hamas security officer warned that the group was “willing to do anything” to eliminate Abu Shabab, not because of his current military strength but out of fear he could become a symbol around which all of Hamas’s adversaries rally. “For 17 years, Hamas made enemies everywhere. If someone like Abu Shabab can rally those forces, that could be the beginning of the end for us,” he said.
The Israeli military has continued to target Hamas’s remaining command structures, leaving the group in disarray. On June 26, an Israeli drone strike targeted a plainclothes Hamas police unit attempting to assert control over a market in Deir al-Balah, killing at least 18 people.
The Israeli military said it struck “several armed terrorists” belonging to Hamas’s Internal Security Forces. As Gaza is plunged further into lawlessness, with entire neighborhoods descending into gang rule, Hamas finds itself not just under Israeli fire but increasingly surrounded by rivals from within.
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