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Gaza militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab killed

Yossi Lempkowicz

Yasser Abu Shabab, head of the eastern Rafah city-based Popular Forces. Credit: Popular Forces/Facebook.

Hamas accused him of treason and of serving as an Israeli proxy, attacked his men and released footage showing gunmen being killed.

By Hodaya Busheri and Lidor Sultan, JNS
Yasser Abu Shabab, head of the eastern Rafah city-based Popular Forces. Credit: Popular Forces/Facebook.

After being evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, he was pronounced dead.

Abu Shabab, who commanded a force of several hundred armed men, accused Hamas of looting aid supplies and fostering chaos and corruption. Hamas accused him of treason and of serving as an Israeli proxy, attacked his men and released footage showing gunmen being killed.

Palestinian sources reported in late May that a new armed force was taking control of food trucks in Rafah in southern Gaza. The militia was led by Abu Shabab, who previously served time in a Hamas prison.

According to Hamas-linked circles, he was able to break out following an Israeli airstrike during the war and subsequently took command of a group estimated at 100 to 300 armed men.

The Abu Shabab clan belongs to the large Tarabin tribe, one of the most powerful in the Gaza Strip. Members of the tribe cooperated with the Islamic State terrorist organization during the past decade as part of the smuggling trade between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, in which Hamas also played a major role. The clan itself does not hold ideological affiliation with the Islamic State.

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

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