Recent developments in gang behavior have prompted Hamas to increase alert levels and strengthen personal security for its members.
Anti-Hamas gangs in the Gaza Strip may be utilizing new tactics to fight against the terror group, Saudi outlet Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Tuesday.
An example of this included when the Helles Gang killed several Gazans who approached the yellow line in the Shejaia and Tuffah neighborhoods.
The gang also forced Gazans out of a residential block per Israel’s request, prompting Hamas to ambush some of its members on the outskirts of Gaza City early Monday morning.
Gang leader Rami Helles confirmed in a Facebook post that one of his fighters, Raad al-Jamal, had been killed, according to the report. Sources say that al-Jamal was among the earliest gunmen to join the group.
Helles’s gang emerged east of Gaza City, and is one of the numerous anti-Hamas groups that operate on the ground, entering booby-trapped houses and tunnels to detect explosives left by the terror group.
Hamas police officers stand guard, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, October 11, 2025; illustrative. (credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)
Hamas’s response intensified since ceasefire
For months, armed gangs in Gaza have been seen as a threat to Hamas. Their practices have been met by Hamas with force, who has killed members of families aligned with the gangs.
The terror group’s actions intensified following the most recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, when Hamas killed, wounded, and arrested dozens in what it described as a warning message to anyone attempting to cooperate with Israel.
Armed gangs have emerged in different areas around Gaza, including Housam al-Astal’s gang in Khan Yunis, Ashraf al-Mansi’s group in the northern Gaza Strip, and most recently, the gang led by Shawqi Abu Nseira northeast of Khan Yunis.
The groups have adopted various names such as “Counterterrorism” and “Popular Forces.”
The most prominent gang in Gaza was led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a Palestinian previously detained by Hamas on criminal charges.
Following his release in October 2023, Abu Shabab gained notoriety for seizing humanitarian aid and later formed an armed group that spread in areas under Israeli control east of Rafah.
Israel, according to Asharq Al-Awsat, placed hopes on his gang to be the first group to emerge as a challenge to Hamas. However, Abu Shabab was later killed, and his leadership was passed down to Ghassan al-Dahini.
The group, however, lost much of its already limited influence, and some of its members were killed or arrested by Hamas.
Gangs shift to ‘dangerous tactics’
According to the report, armed gangs in Gaza are now shifting to what Palestinians describe as “dangerous tactics” after assassinating officers in Hamas’s security services and members of the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades near their homes.
An investigation by Asharq Al-Awsat found that the first assassination of this kind was carried out by Shawqi Abu Nseira’s gang on December 14, 2025, targeted Ahmed ZamZam, an officer in Hamas’s Internal Security Service, in central Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp.
The second assassination took place on January 12, and targeted Hamas Head of Investigations Mahmoud al-Astal in Khan Yunis. It was carried by Housam al-Astal’s gang.
Al-Astal was a relative of the victim, according to the report, who had been disowned following the establishment of the gang.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Abu Nseira and Housam al-Astal’s gangs, unlike previous ones, displayed greater loyalty to Israel, operated more boldly, spoke fluent Hebrew with Israeli media, and presented themselves as potential alternatives to Hamas’s rule in Gaza.
According to the sources, the gunmen who carried out the attacks had body cameras on them to document their operations and used pistols fitted with silencers.
Other sources said that gang members had obtained Israeli weapons, including anti-armor munitions, along with food and other weapons.
Abu Nseira and Astal had both been senior officers in the Palestinian Authority’s security services.
Sources acquired by Asharq Al-Awsat said Astal had been recruited by the Shin Bet and received specialized training from the Mossad.
The gang leader took part in the 2018 assassination of Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades leader Fadi al-Batsh, an engineer who received training in Malaysia to develop drones and rockets. The operation was carried out alongside other local agents recruited by the Mossad.
Hamas later arrested and issued a death sentence against Housam al-Astal.
The actions of both gangs have prompted Hamas to increase alert levels and strengthen personal security for its members, according to the report.
Hamas has urged its members to remain vigilant, vary their routes, carry appropriate weapons to respond to attacks, abandon mobile phones to reduce tracking, and monitor suspicious activity by individuals who may be surveilling them.