Anti-Hamas Gazan clansman reported killed
The leader of the Palestinian armed group opposing Hamas in Gaza was killed, Israeli media reported; This would be a blow to Israeli efforts to support Gaza tribes against the Islamist movement.
Bedouin tribal leader Yasser Abu Shabab, who lives in Israeli-held Rafah in southern Gaza, leads the most prominent of several small anti-Hamas groups that have emerged in Gaza during the war that began more than two years ago.
His death would be a boost for Hamas, which has branded him a collaborator and ordered its fighters to kill or capture him.
His group, Popular Forces, had no statement on the Abu Shabaab situation on its Facebook page on Thursday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged in June that Israel has anti-Hamas armed groups, but Israel has since released few more details about the policy.
Abu Shabaab’s group continues to operate in areas of Gaza controlled by Israeli forces since the signing of a US-backed ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel in October.
Rafah was the scene of the worst violence during the ceasefire. Residents reported gunfights there on Wednesday, and Israel said four of its soldiers were injured there. The Israeli military said Thursday that its forces killed about 40 Hamas militants trapped in tunnels under Rafah.
On November 18, Abu Shabaab’s group released a video showing dozens of fighters receiving orders from their aides to launch a security sweep to “clear Rafah of terrorism”; this was an apparent reference to Hamas fighters believed to be hiding there.
Abu Shabab’s death was reported by Israeli media, including Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, citing a security source.
Israel Army Radio, citing a security source, also said he died of unspecified injuries at the Soroka hospital in southern Israel, but the hospital soon denied he had been admitted there.
The reports did not say when he died or what the reported injuries were like.
An Israeli government spokesman declined to comment on the news. A Gaza spokesman said Hamas had no comment.
Israel’s policy of supporting anti-Hamas tribes took shape as it pressed for a Gaza offensive against the group, which aims to end its dominance of the coastline following the October 7, 2023 attacks on communities in southern Israel.
In an article published in the Wall Street Journal in July, Abu Shabaab, a member of the Tarabin Bedouin tribe, said his group had established its own rule in the Rafah region and called on U.S. and Arab support to recognize and support it.
Abu Shabaab’s group has denied being supported by Israel.
Netanyahu said in June that Israel’s support for Gaza tribes was a good thing, saving the lives of Israeli soldiers.
But the policy has also been criticized by some in Israel, who say such groups cannot offer a real alternative to Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007.
“The writing was on the wall. Whether he was killed by Hamas or killed in an intra-clan conflict, it was clear that this was how it would end,” Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv, told Reuters.
Other anti-Hamas groups also emerged in Israeli-held areas of Gaza. Palestinian political analyst Reham Owda said the death of Abu Shabaab would raise doubts among them about their “ability to challenge Hamas”.
US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza calls for the disarmament of Hamas and the administration of the region by a transitional authority supported by a multinational stabilization force. But progress appears slow, with Hamas so far refusing to disarm and no sign of agreement on the creation of an international force.
Hamas accused Abu Shabaab of looting UN aid trucks during the war. Abu Shabaab’s group denied this, saying they were protecting and escorting aid.
