PDB Afternoon Bulletin | June 4th, 2025: Civil War in Gaza? New Militia Challenges Hamas Rule & Israeli Jets Hit Syria
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It's Wednesday, the 4th of June. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll start things off with a potential civil war in Gaza, as an armed militia is now challenging the dominance of Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip.

Later in the show, tensions between Israel and Syria are flaring up again. After rockets were fired into the Golan Heights, Israel launched airstrikes deep into Syrian territory. We'll have those details. But first, the afternoon spotlight. There's a rising challenge to Hamas' dominance in the Gaza Strip, and it's not coming from Israel. It's coming from inside the territory itself.

An armed militia, led by a man named Yasser Abu Shabab, has begun asserting control in parts of Gaza, particularly in his stronghold of East Rafah. Now, his group is called Al-Kuwat Al-Shabaya, and they are simply the popular forces. And just yesterday, the group released a statement declaring that East Rafah had been, quote, cleansed and was now under its control. They urged residents to return to their homes, promising them shelter and food.

Now, this group appears to be relatively new. Its members have only recently appeared in public wearing uniforms stamped with the Palestinian flag and "counter-terrorism units" insignias. That alone, of course, is raising eyebrows. Abu Shabab says his fighters have been protecting humanitarian aid convoys. Hamas, on the other hand, has accused him of looting those same trucks and even hinted at ties between Abu Shabab and Israel.

At this point, no evidence has emerged to back those claims, but the accusations show just how seriously Hamas is taking this challenge. The popular forces have denied being a militia or a new political faction. Instead, they say they were forced to take up arms because of the lawlessness and security vacuum created by the war.

In a statement late last month, they emphasized their main goal: restoring order and making sure humanitarian aid gets to families without what they called "humiliation or political coercion". That line is widely seen as a jab at Hamas, whose tight grip on aid distribution has been a source of control for them for years. To really understand this power shift, though, you need to understand the role of clans in Gaza.

as this militia is believed to be clan-based. These are large family networks that often serve as informal authorities when government structures collapse. They influence everything from marriages and business deals to local justice and political allegiances. And in Gaza today, where formal governance has completely unraveled, these clans could be stepping into the vacuum. That makes them a powerful force in both day-to-day life and bigger political struggles.

and now we're seeing signs that Hamas and the popular forces may have already come to blows. On May 30th, Hamas released a video claiming it had ambushed an undercover IDF unit in Rafah, but analysts quickly pointed out something strange: the alleged undercover Israeli soldiers in the video had their weapons fully exposed, not exactly the behavior of a covert unit.

That's led to speculation that the men in the footage were actually members of Abu Shabab's group, not Israeli forces. If that's true, it would mark the first time that Hamas has publicly documented an attack on a Palestinian militia in Gaza during this current conflict, an act that could be easily read as a warning to the popular forces, meaning, stay in your lane. Now, you ask yourself, why does this matter? Well, I'm glad you asked yourself that. Because

Because, as we've been covering for days now, aid distribution in Gaza isn't just about feeding people. It's about power. It's about control. If another group manages to take control of that supply line, well, Hamas loses its primary means of control over the population.

Alright, coming up next, the fragile peace between Israel and Syria may be unraveling. Israel has launched airstrikes in response to rocket fire, blaming Syria's new interim president, and drawing warnings from Damascus. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let me take just a few seconds of your time to talk about your personal finances and your hard-earned savings.

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Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. In its first airstrikes on Syria in nearly a month, Israel says it struck weapons facilities tied to the Syrian government in the country's south in retaliation for the launch of two rockets into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. The Israeli military confirmed that it carried out the strikes late Monday night, which targeted the Daraa province, according to the Israeli military.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attacks triggered "violent explosions" though the extent of casualties remains unknown. Syria's foreign ministry blasted the operation as a "blatant violation of sovereignty," warning that these strikes risk "aggravating tensions in the region."

Damascus denied responsibility for the rocket fire and accused unnamed actors of seeking to destabilize the country, claiming, quote, Syria has never been and will never be a threat to anyone in the region. While the two projectiles landed harmlessly in open terrain, their symbolic weight was amplified by the group that claimed them, a little-known faction calling itself the Martyr Mohammed Deef Brigades. That's a nod to the late Hamas military commander.

The extent of the group's affiliation with Hamas remains undetermined. The martyr Mohammed Def Brigades posted a nighttime video on Telegram claiming it showed the impact, although the footage has not been independently verified. Regardless of attribution, Israel placed blame squarely on Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Defense Minister Israel Katz declared, quote, "...we consider the President of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel," adding that Israel would not permit a return to what he called, quote, "...the reality of 7 October."

Monday's exchange marked the first cross-border rocket attack from Syria since the collapse of the Assad regime late last year. The shift in power has done little to calm Israeli concerns, where officials fear that southern Syria could become a launchpad for Islamist militias.

The rebel Islamist group HTS, which played an important role in overthrowing Assad, has been establishing itself in Syria's southern bordering region, which has prompted repeated Israeli warnings and strikes. Just last month, the Israeli Air Force bombed an area near the presidential palace in Damascus. Speaking after these latest strikes, Prime Minister Netanyahu said the operation sent a, quote, clear message,

that Israel would not tolerate threats near its border or any targeting of the Druze community. That's a religious minority population with deep ties to both countries. The exchange also comes at a precarious diplomatic moment. As we've discussed, President Trump lifted long-standing U.S. sanctions on Syria back in May and met with Shara in Riyadh, moves that opened the door to back-channel talks between Israel and Syria.

The newly appointed U.S. envoy to Syria, Thomas Barak, said last week he believed peace between the two nations was "achievable" given the new diplomatic movement. But Monday's strikes, well, might indicate otherwise.

And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Wednesday, the 4th of June. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And of course, well, you probably already committed this to memory, but if you want to listen to the show ad-free, just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. Now, I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.