Israeli collaborator Yasser Abu Shabab reportedly killed in Gaza

Israeli collaborator and militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab, the man most wanted by Hamas, was reportedly killed in Gaza on Thursday, according to local media.
Several Israeli outlets carried the reports, though none provided details on who killed him and how.
He was said to have been killed in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, an area currently under complete Israeli control.
Abu Shabab cooperated with Israel throughout the two-year genocidal war on Gaza, looting aid and killing or kidnapping Palestinian civilians as well as Hamas fighters.
The notorious convicted criminal was armed and provided with air cover by Israeli forces.
Since emerging as a militia leader, he had operated from eastern Rafah, an area under full Israeli control.
Following reports of his death, crowds in Gaza took to the streets in celebration, distributing sweets and firing celebratory gunfire into the air.
Hamas security forces had previously vowed to track him down during the war.
There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian group following reports of his death.
Channel 12 reported that Abu Shabab was taken by Israeli forces to Soroka Hospital after he was hit, where he was declared dead. The hospital later denied the reports.
Amit Segal, Israeli journalist and political commentator of Channel 12 news, described Abu Shabab's killing as a "bad development for Israel".
'Traitorous'
Abu Shabab's Popular Forces has been condemned by various Palestinian factions as “traitorous” for its attacks on civilians, aid looting, collaboration with Israel and links to the Islamic State group.
Abu Shahab has characterised the Popular Forces as a group of Palestinians opposed to Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip.
However, there have been numerous reports of the group engaging in extortion, looting of humanitarian aid and coordinating with the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), which has been accused of overseeing the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians at aid sites.
In an interview earlier this year with Makan, Israel’s official Arabic-language radio station, Abu Shahab reportedly claimed that his armed militia operates “with ease” in areas controlled by the Israeli military.
He allegedly suggested that his group is cooperating with the Israeli army, informing them about upcoming operations, and receiving "external support".
The 35-year-old gang leader later denied participating in the Makan interview or any others with Israeli media, in a statement to Yedioth Ahronoth (Ynet), an Israeli daily.
"I was shocked to see quotes from an interview I never gave, which were falsely attributed to me," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously admitted to arming Abu Shabab's gang.
A Palestinian source familiar with the matter told Kan News last month that associates of Abu Shabab also took part in meetings with senior American officials.
Areas of Gaza controlled by the Popular Forces have enjoyed access to aid and resources that have been otherwise denied to the starvation-stricken enclave.
This is largely due to theft of aid, with an internal 2024 UN report identifying the group as “the most influential stakeholders behind the systematic and massive looting of convoys”.
Despite a ceasefire being nominally agreed in October, nearly 600 breaches by Israel have been reported, in which more than 360 people were killed and 900 wounded.
Israel has also continued to block entry and exit for patients and civilians through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, in violation of the agreement, and has restricted aid deliveries, allowing only an average of 200 trucks per day out of the 600 agreed.