Yasser Abu Shabab, an anti-Hamas clan leader in Gaza, was killed in an internal dispute. Photo / Facebook, Popular Forces page
The most prominent anti-Hamas militia leader in Gaza, Yasser Abu Shabab, has been killed in an “internal” dispute with another family, his group said in a statement, potentially undermining Israel’s efforts to support local clans as an alternative to Hamas.
The exact circumstances of his killing remained unclear: Abu Shabab and his group of armed men, who got their start in 2024 looting aid convoys, had been holed up in eastern Rafah in southern Gaza, an area controlled by the Israeli military. He was being hunted by Hamas, whose security forces had killed his brother, and had angered some members of his own extended family by co-operating with Israeli forces.
In a statement, his Popular Forces militia said he was “struck by a bullet” while trying to resolve a conflict between members of the Abu Sneima family, which is from the same area in eastern Rafah.
The Abu Sneima family, however, issued its own statement saying that at least two of its “sons” had confronted and killed Abu Shabab, whose militia “stands outside the values of our people”.
It “will face a harsh reckoning”, the statement said.
Both families belong to the larger Bedouin tribe Tarabin, whose members live across southern Gaza, Israel’s Negev desert and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. But the apparent feud underscored the perils of Israel’s policy to arm local gangs and families as challengers to Hamas.
Abu Shabab, who was in his 30s, was at the centre of that project, which includes plans to establish Hamas-free zones within Gaza and appears to have at least the tacit support of the United States.
Earlier this year, Abu Shabab had called on Hamas to relinquish power in the territory while also pledging to protect Palestinian civilians who relocated to his fiefdom – a cluster of tents in a semiarid corner of Rafah.
“Anyone who is against terrorism across the Gaza Strip, and seeks an honourable life, can reach out to us,” Abu Shabab said in an interview with the Washington Post in July.
Hamas on Thursday (local time) called Abu Shabab a “traitor” and warned others would suffer the same fate if they “betray their people” and work with Israel, which it said had “failed to protect its own agents”.
“A lot is still unclear around this case, but what is for sure is that Hamas will benefit from it,” said Oded Ailam, former head of the counterterrorism division in the Mossad, Israel’s external intelligence agency, and a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
He said the killing marked the end of an Israeli “strategy that was never a strategy”.
In June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu briefly acknowledged his Government’s support for Gaza-based clans as a counterweight to Hamas. Prominent members of Israel’s security establishment had long criticised the Israeli leader for refusing to commit to a post-war strategy in Gaza.
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas and allied militants attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing around 1200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
Since then, more than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the local health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. A United States-backed ceasefire is in effect, and Hamas has started to reconstitute its forces in Gaza.
“No one in Israel ever believed that Abu Shabab would replace Hamas,” Ailam said. “Abu Shabab wasn’t big enough, he didn’t have enough popularity.”
Now Israel is under pressure from the US to move forward with subsequent stages of the ceasefire, which began October 10, including another staged withdrawal of Israeli troops. And it remains unclear to what extent the US will support Israel if it launches airstrikes or ground operations in Gaza, said Michael Milshtein, a former high-level military intelligence analyst who heads the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Centre.
“Israeli decision-makers … still refuse to engage with any real solutions for finding an alternative to Hamas,” Milshtein said.
“Israel could soon be withdrawing from Rafah, which will mean that any Abu Shabab types will either be executed by Hamas or flee elsewhere and create chaos.”
Balousha reported from Ontario. Ari Flanzraich in Jaffa, Israel, Miriam Berger and Claire Parker in Cairo contributed to this report.
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