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Arrow Unit
Palestinian police unit in the Gaza Strip From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Arrow Unit (Arabic: وحدة سهم, romanized: Wahdat Sahm) is a special unit of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Civil Police Force in the Gaza Strip. It was formed in 2024 during the ongoing Gaza war and has participated in the Hamas–Popular Forces conflict.[1][2]
Origins
The unit has its origins in informal groups of Gazan youths, who would wear ski masks and dress in all black, and deploy to public areas often subject to unrest, such as bread lines, ATMs, and markets.[1] News reports at the time frequently described them arresting suspected thieves and beating them severely in marketplaces, publicly proclaiming that this was the punishment for looters. The leader of the youths was apparently an unnamed police officer.[3][unreliable source?]
The Ministry of the Interior in the Gaza Strip officially adopted the unit in March 2024, with the objectives of promoting internal stability and cooperating with local tribal committees to protect aid convoys. Police officers, members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, and members of local tribes joined the Arrow Unit's ranks.[1]
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Tasks
The Arrow Unit has stated it is tasked with the following:[1]
- Controlling the security situation in the Gaza Strip and pursing local collaborators with Israel
- Monitoring and controlling market prices and combatting hoarders of commodities
- Pursuing looters of humanitarian aid
- Reducing the chaos that Israel seeks to spread in Gaza
- Ensuring security on main roads, especially those used by aid convoys
- Ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid to designated warehouses for distribution to citizens
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Activities
The Arrow Unit has frequently employed extrajudicial executions.[4] An official of the Gazan interior ministry has stated that executions "set an example for others and prevent chaos from being the norm in Gaza". Not all looters or collaborators detained by the Arrow Unit are executed, however, with others being beaten or imprisoned.[3]
The Arrow Unit's first major operation during the Gaza war was a raid against the Israeli-backed Popular Forces on 19 November 2024, just after the latter had carried out the Kerem Shalom aid convoy looting three days earlier. About 20 Popular Forces militants were killed in the operation.[3]
On 3 May 2025, the Arrow Unit announced a strict nightly curfew for the Gaza Strip with the pretext that it would facilitate the hunting down of collaborators and thieves. The unit stated that anyone who violated the curfew without justification would be treated as a collaborator.[4]
On 12 June, the Arrow Unit detained and killed 12 people who it said were Popular Forces militants; the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had claimed the dead were its aid workers.[5][failed verification]
Criticism
Reportedly, some Gazans oppose the Arrow Unit and accuse them of illicit bullying, harassment, executing civilians, stealing aid for themselves, and targeting local clans known to be less loyal to Hamas.[4]
See also
References
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