Yasser Abu Shabab, Popular Forces group head, the unofficial Israel-backed militia group in Gaza, was killed.
In his short lifespan, Abu Shabab was widely derided by fellow Palestinians as many believed the Popular Forces group was funded by the Israeli Army, although it presented as the main opposition to Hamas.
It initially projected itself as the “Anti-Terror Service.” By May this year, Popular Forces became a well-armed group of at least 100 fighters operating in Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza.
Shabab’s group took to Facebook to announce his death. According to the post, their leader was fatally shot as he tried to “resolve a dispute” among members of the Abu Suneima family, clarifying he was not “killed by Hamas.”
Israeli media had earlier reported that Abu Shabab was killed in clashes with “Gaza clans” and later pronounced dead at the Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel.
Who was Abu Shabab and why was he hated by Palestinians?
Palestinians don’t hail Abu Shabab as a hero or a martyr, but a criminal. Prior Popular Forces, he was imprisoned by Palestinian authorities in Gaza for a number of years on drug-related charges before escaping from jail in the early part of the war on Gaza.
Abu Shabab entered into an alliance with Israel and by May this year, the group consist of at least 100 well armed fighters operating in Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza, even as the latter continued to massacre more than 70,120 people, mainly women and children.
This alliance was scorned by fellow Palestinians, including his own tribe, Bedouin Tarabin, who released a statement saying his death was “the end of a dark chapter that does not represent the history of the tribe.”
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