Gaza militia leader linked to Israel killed by assassins

Yasser Abu Shabab, Israel-linked leader of the Gaza militia in eastern Rafah, was killed by assassins.

Abu Shabab led an organisation calling itself the “People’s Forces” and, in recent months, collaborated with Israel in fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

Details of the killing are still under investigation. It is currently unknown who is behind the killing of the man considered the “most wanted criminal” in the Gaza Strip and labelled a “mercenary.”

The investigation is considering two possibilities: whether it was an intra-clan feud or if Hamas managed to reach him and kill him in retaliation for his activities.

In recent months, Abu Shabab became a prominent figure among Hamas opponents in the Gaza Strip, leading an armed force aimed at weakening Hamas and working in cooperation with Israel.

In the eyes of Hamas and its supporters, he was labelled a “symbol of betrayal” against the people of Gaza and the idea of “Palestinian resistance,” making his elimination a top target for the organisation in its effort to restore control in the territory.

Abu Shabab’s killing highlights the strategic difficulty of relying on local actors (“mercenaries”) as a substitute for Hamas governance.

According to the analysis accompanying the report, as long as Hamas remains the dominant military authority controlling around 50% of the Strip, the ability of armed militias to survive long-term and carry out operations on Israel’s behalf is questionable, even if they achieve occasional tactical successes.

By Jeyhun Aghazada