by Jerusalem Post Staff
Yasser Abu Shabab said Hamas should trade the remaining hostages as a way to safely leave Gaza to Qatar as they weren't wanted in the Palestinian enclave.
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Yasser Abu Shabab, the leader of Popular Forces, a militia group in Gaza, claimed to have “secured” several kilometers of land in the Strip and is now governing that space, in an opinion article published by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
The Popular Forces reportedly took over land belonging to the Tarabin Bedouin tribe, of which Shabab is a member, he wrote while asserting that the militia’s “primary goal is to separate Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas from the fire of war.”
Shabab claimed that “the war is already over” for those living in the territory in eastern Rafah.
“For the past seven weeks, our neighborhood has become the only area in Gaza governed by a Palestinian administration not affiliated with Hamas since 2007,” he claimed. “Our armed patrols have successfully kept Hamas and other militant groups out. As a result, life here no longer feels like life in Gaza.”
He claimed that those living in the captured territory had access to shelter, food, water, and basic medical supplies “without fear of Hamas stealing aid or being caught in the crossfire with the Israeli military.”
Aspirations for Gaza
“While there is still much to improve, people now sleep at night without fear of death,” Shabab wrote, adding his territory could become “the new norm.”He claimed that families had contacted him hoping to relocate to the zone, and that in the coming months, a third of Gaza’s population could be moved outside of Hamas’s control.
To make his aspirations a reality, he wrote in the Wall Street Journal that his militia would need “financial support to prevent Hamas’s return, humanitarian aid to meet the population’s immediate needs for food and shelter, and safe corridors so people can move around.”
Hamas's brutality
“The vast majority of Gazans reject Hamas,” he claimed. “They don’t want it to remain in power after the war ends. But though they hate Hamas, they still fear it. Since protests began earlier this year calling for the group’s removal, demonstrators have been killed, tortured, or forced into hiding.”Shabab added that his brother, Fathi Abu Shabab, and cousin, Ibrahim Abu Shabab, were murdered by Hamas in their homes despite not partaking in the protests. He claimed 52 civilians under the group’s care were murdered by the terror group.
Despite Hamas killing his loved ones, Shabab wrote, “I am not intimidated by them. I won’t surrender.”
The return of the hostages
“What has prevented most Gazans from expressing their true anger at Hamas is the lack of a viable alternative,” Shabab claimed. “Hamas still controls aid access and dominates institutions like the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA. Hamas still turns aid centers into hubs for its own operations. In some areas, the only thing preventing people from fleeing is the presence of Israeli troops, which might withdraw as part of a ceasefire.”On the topic of hostages, which he did not describe as “prisoners” in contrast to Hamas, Shabab wrote, “When the rebuilding has begun, Hamas can negotiate with Israel for the release of hostages in exchange for safe passage out of Gaza. Let them go to Qatar, Turkey, or wherever their enablers will have them. We don’t want them among us.”
Shabab called on the US and Arab states to recognize the Popular Forces and support an independent Palestinian administration.
“From eastern Rafah—where families now sleep safely under civil protection—I can see Gaza’s future,” he concluded. “The question is: Will the world help build it with us, free from the ideologies of violence and terror?”
Jerusalem Post Staff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-862236
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