Hamas orders Gaza clan leader to surrender, accuses him of treason
A ministry statement said the decision was taken by what it called a "Revolutionary Court". Yasser Abu Shabab, who does not recognize the authority of Hamas and accuses the militants of hurting the interests of Gaza, has 10 days to surrender, it said.
The court urged Palestinians to inform Hamas security officials about the whereabouts of Abu Shabab, who has so far remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area of southern Gaza held by Israeli troops. There was no immediate response from his group to the surrender order.
Hamas, which accuses Abu Shabab of looting UN aid trucks and alleges that he is backed by Israel, has sent some of its top fighters to kill him, two Hamas sources and two other sources familiar with the situation told Reuters last month.
Abu Shabab's group told Reuters at the time that it is a popular force protecting humanitarian aid from looting by escorting aid trucks and denied getting support from Israel or contacts with the Israeli army. It accused Hamas of violence and muzzling dissent.
Israel has said it has backed some of Gaza's clans against Hamas but has not said which.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
38 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump Reacts To Hamas' 'Positive' Response to Ceasefire Plan
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Donald Trump has welcomed the response of Hamas to the U.S. ceasefire and hostage release proposal for Gaza. After the militant group said Friday it was ready to enter talks to end the war with Israel, without confirming it had accepted terms, the U.S. president told reporters that the Hamas response was "good" and suggested a deal could be struck next week. Hamas captivity survivor Keith Siegel said in a media statement shared with Newsweek that Trump is "the only one" who can strike a comprehensive deal that can bring the remaining captives home. Newsweek has contacted the Israeli government for comment. File photo: Donald Trump gestures as he speaks on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2025 in Washington, D.C. File photo: Donald Trump gestures as he speaks on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2025 in Washington, It Matters Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Trump in Washington, D.C., on Monday. The positive response from Hamas and the U.S. president's comments that a deal could happen next week have raised speculation that an end to the near-21-month war between Israel and Hamas could be imminent. What To Know Trump had said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed the conditions required for a 60-day ceasefire to end the war that followed Hamas' attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023; around 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage. Israel's bombardment on Gaza since then has killed over 57,000, according to The Associated Press, citing local health officials. Hamas said Friday it had responded in "a positive spirit" to a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was ready for talks. Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday that he welcomed the response by Hamas as "good" and hoped there would be a deal next week. Hamas had requested changes to the deal; these include ending a U.S.-backed aid system by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in favor of the U.N. and its partners, as well as American guarantees that the war would not resume if talks failed, the BBC reported, citing a Palestinian official. The plan is also believed to include the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 other hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Some 50 hostages are held in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has demanded a deal to end the war and release the remaining hostages. Thousands are expected to join hostage families at rallies in Israel on Saturday to urge the government to reach a deal to free the captives. In a statement via the forum provided to Newsweek on Friday, Hamas captivity survivor Keith Siegel said he and his family were grateful for Trump for prioritizing the hostage crisis, but only a comprehensive deal can bring all of them home. "President Donald Trump, you are the only one who can do it," Siegel said. "End the war, bring them home, create a better future for the Middle East." What People Are Saying Hamas said in a statement it consulted the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the war in Gaza and that it was "fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework." President Donald Trump said: "They (Hamas) said they gave me a positive response? Well, that's good. There could be a Gaza deal next week." Mayar Al Farr, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl, told Reuters: "There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother." Hamas captivity survivor Keith Siegel said in a statement: "My family and I are eternally thankful to President Donald Trump for prioritizing the hostage crisis since day one of his presidency and bringing me and so many others home. Fifty hostages are still in Hamas captivity. Only a comprehensive deal can bring all of them home." What Happens Next Given Trump's comments that a deal could be reached next week, there will be anticipation over the next move Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who will meet Trump in Washington on Monday. The Israeli leader has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, but it is thought that this is something that the militant group has so far refused to discuss. The Times of Israel newspaper reported that Netanyahu was working with Trump on a deal to end the war, despite the opposition of the right-wing flank of his government.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
News Analysis: Israel declared triumph, but Iran's nuclear future still looms
After a hastily cobbled together ceasefire between Israel and Iran took hold on June 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu jubilantly declared that the 'existential threats' of Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missile arsenal had been destroyed. The 'historic victory,' he said, would 'abide for generations.' But nearly two weeks after President Trump deployed 30,000-pound bombs and Tomahawk missiles against Iran's nuclear facilities, questions linger over how abiding that victory will prove to be. Even as U.S. and Israeli intelligence services continue assessing the strikes, and the White House insists Tehran may acquiesce to a grand bargain for peace in the region, analysts say the hostilities were less a finale than a prelude to the next act. Read more: Timeline of tensions and hostilities between Israel and Iran 'There will be a sequel. The war remains an unfinished project, for both sides,' said Bader Al-Saif, a professor of history at Kuwait University. Israel, he added, 'wants to see the end of the Iranian regime or a more serious decapitation of its capabilities.' For the Islamic Republic's leaders, who have defied and antagonized Israel — and the U.S. — for decades, that they emerged bruised but not beaten serves as proof they should continue. 'Regardless of the superiority of Israeli and American firepower, they're still there,' Al-Saif said. 'And they're there for the long run.' Israel's 12-day campaign is the first time the long-running shadow conflict between the Middle East's military superpowers exploded into open warfare, decapitating the upper echelons of Iran's military and nuclear leadership. Israel's spy service conducted elaborate sabotage operations on Iranian soil. Wave after wave of airstrikes killed hundreds of people and turned vital installations, infrastructure and city neighborhoods into piles of rubble. From the moment Trump announced the B-2 Spirit bomber strikes, he and other members of his administration have repeated the word 'obliterated' when describing their impact. Though an initial damage analysis expressed skepticism, a consensus emerged that Iran's enrichment and weaponization infrastructure, including centrifuges and uranium metalworking equipment, was destroyed or rendered inoperable. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview Tuesday with CBS News that Iran's Atomic Energy Organization was still evaluating the impact at the Fordo site, 'but what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged.' How enduring the setback will be to Iran's nuclear ambitions is another matter. Araghchi added that Iran's "peaceful nuclear program has turned into a matter of national pride and glory' and that 'people will not easily back down from enrichment.' Read more: Will the ceasefire stick? And is Iran's nuclear program really destroyed? "One cannot obliterate the technology and science for enrichment through bombings," Araghchi said. "If there is this will on our part, and the will exists in order to once again make progress in this industry, we will be able to expeditiously repair the damages and make up for the lost time." Iranian officials put the death toll of the war at 935 people, including 38 children and 132 women; they did not specify how many of the men were civilians. The U.S., European powers and Iran signed a deal in 2015 conditioning sanctions relief on Iran restricting enrichment of uranium to 3.67% (enough for civilian use), giving up significant amounts of its uranium stockpile and allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to monitor facilities. Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, saying it didn't go far enough, and he imposed what he termed 'maximum pressure' sanctions on Iran. He began his second term with efforts to negotiate a new agreement; Israel began its attack on Iran as talks were underway. Experts believe Iran still has centrifuges it manufactured before the war but had never installed, as well as a stockpile of uranium enriched to 20% and 60%, sufficient for 10 warheads. 'Bottom line is that Iran has the foundational elements that it could use to reconstitute an enrichment effort,' said Eric Brewer, deputy vice president of the Nuclear Materials Security Program for Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington think tank. Weaponizing that uranium is a murkier prospect, he added. Israel killed 14 veteran Iranian nuclear scientists, but the know-how is likely to have remained, Brewer said. 'Iran is clearly not willing to abandon its nuclear program," he said. "It's a question of what form that reconstituted program will take, and how long Iran needs to fulfill it.' Meanwhile, Tehran has already taken steps limiting inspectors' access to its nuclear program. On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed into law a bill suspending cooperation with the IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, until guarantees are given for the security of nuclear facilities and scientists. The 12-member Guardian Council, half of whom are appointed by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, approved it the next day. Continuing with any enrichment is likely to be a nonstarter for Trump, who says he 'without question' would bomb any Iranian rebuilding effort. The Israelis too have threatened to strike again should they perceive a threat. But that calculus thrusts all sides into a perpetual game of cat-and-mouse, with Iran going to ever-greater lengths to conceal its activities while the U.S. and Israel keep watching for Tehran's maneuverings. Israel has employed a similar playbook in Lebanon. Though it accepted a ceasefire with the militant group Hezbollah in November, it maintains an almost omniscient presence over its neighbor, with a raft of drones, spies, signals intelligence and artificial intelligence proving effective at sussing out Hezbollah activity. Israel's military has launched thousands of attacks targeting any move by the Lebanese militant group to restore its capabilities. 'Israelis refer to it as mowing the grass, and the idea is that they can do this endlessly,' said Jeffrey Lewis, an arms control specialist and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey. 'But I'm skeptical of the long-term success of this endeavor [with Iran] because you can't count on that level of penetration and access being good forever.' Indeed, Iran is a more challenging target, roughly 158 times larger than Lebanon and more than 1,000 miles farther from Israel. Brewer, the nuclear proliferation expert, added that Iran would probably opt to hide new facilities even deeper underground to defend against U.S. "bunker buster" attacks. 'To use the analogy, to effectively mow the grass, you have to know where that grass is growing back,' he said. Iran says it will respond if the U.S. and Israel were to strike again. And it has shown it can exact a price. During the war, it lobbed successive fusillades of ballistic missiles, and though most were felled en route or were destroyed by Israel's defense network, those that got through left destruction unseen in Israel for decades. Health authorities say 29 Israeli civilians were killed and several buildings were destroyed or so damaged they need to be demolished. Israel's tax authority says more than 40,000 compensation claims have been filed. Also, keeping Israel's defensive net online is no easy task because it relies on 'ferociously expensive' interceptors, Lewis added. When Israel depleted its supplies, the U.S. had to step in, firing a year's production run of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missiles to intercept Iran's projectiles. 'It's almost a war of attrition, because if the Israelis wait to intercept, then they're on the wrong side of the cost curve,' Lewis said. Negotiations with Iran are unlikely to be easy in a postwar atmosphere of distrust. In his interview, Araghchi said the door to diplomacy 'will never slam shut,' but he cast doubt on statements by Trump administration officials that negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over its nuclear program would restart as early as next week. "In order for us to decide to reengage, we will have to first ensure that America will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations," Araghchi said. At the same time, there is little appetite in Iran for a grand deal that — as envisioned by Trump — aims to resolve all conflicts with Israel in the region, said Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the London-based Chatham House think tank. 'That's wishful thinking after a consequential war that has damaged Iran's defense doctrine and one where Israel hasn't seen its strategic objectives met," Vakil said. 'We're on a time-out, and without really determined focus and deliberate diplomacy, this will be a very long intermission while both sides regroup and think about the next round.' Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Hezbollah stages parade in central Beirut, rattling and outraging Lebanese citizens
Hezbollah's parade in Lebanon causes concerns within Beirut and abroad as the terror organization weighs whether or not to partially disarm. Hezbollah held an armed parade this week in the heart of Beirut—a calculated show of force that has drawn sharp criticism from across the Lebanese political spectrum and stirred fears of renewed internal unrest. The march, held in Beirut's central al-Hamra neighborhood, featured masked Hezbollah fighters parading through a civilian district with military-style precision and heavy weaponry. Photos and videos of the event quickly spread on social media, prompting public outrage and renewed debate over the group's role in Lebanese society. According to observers in Lebanon, the parade served a dual purpose: it projected strength following the group's recent confrontation with Israel and signaled its strategic intentions going forward. Reports citing Arab media claim Hezbollah is conducting internal deliberations about scaling back parts of its weapons stockpile as part of a broader 'strategic reassessment.' According to Lebanese sources, Hezbollah leaders are reportedly debating whether the group's once-vaunted military arsenal has become more of a political liability than an asset. Some factions within the organization are said to support a partial disarmament in order to focus on keeping tactical capabilities such as light rockets and anti-tank weapons while reducing heavier armaments. The armed march also came amid pressure from the United States for Hezbollah to disarm. Washington's Special Envoy for Syria, Thomas Barak, has urged Lebanese authorities to commit to the principle that only the state should maintain an armed force. America's demand, which was reportedly raised during meetings last month and is expected to be discussed again in July, calls for the dismantling of all militias to ensure full state control over security. While Hezbollah has publicly rejected the notion of full disarmament, the optics of armed men marching openly through Beirut reportedly rattled many Lebanese citizens, who are still grappling with economic collapse, political paralysis, and growing insecurity. Commentators noted the parade was likely intended as both a warning to external powers and a test of Lebanese society's tolerance for renewed displays of militarism. For many, it evoked memories of past violence and raised the specter of further instability at a time when the country can least afford it.
