Anti-Hamas militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab was killed Thursday, Israeli defense sources said, in what they described as
an “internal clash” — i.e., not with Hamas — in the southern Gaza Strip.
Abu Shabab was taken to a hospital in Israel, where he died of his wounds, according to the sources.
The Ynet news site cited a “senior source within the militia,” who said a fight broke out between families and groups
within the militia, which deteriorated until shots were fired, at which point Abu Shabab was killed. Ynet later cited an
Israeli security official as saying he was beaten to death as part of an argument over collaborating with Israel.
However, there was no official comment from the militia or Israeli authorities as of Thursday afternoon.
Abu Shabab, a Bedouin tribal leader based in Israeli-held Rafah in southern Gaza, had led the most prominent of several
small anti-Hamas groups that emerged in Gaza during the war.
Hamas branded him a collaborator and ordered its fighters to kill or capture him.
Abu Shabab’s group has denied being backed by Israel.
The group has continued to operate in areas controlled by Israeli forces since a US-backed ceasefire was reached in
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged in June that Israel had armed anti-Hamas clans, though Israel has
announced few details of the policy since then.
Abu Shabab’s group posted a video on November 18 showing dozens of fighters receiving orders from his deputy to launch a
security sweep to “clear Rafah of terror,” an apparent reference to Hamas fighters believed to be holed up there.
Hamas battalion commander, 3 other operatives killed by IDF
The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that security forces have killed more than 40 Hamas operatives in that area,
including, it officially confirmed, the commander of Hamas’s East Rafah Battalion, his deputy, and two other terror
operatives, who were all killed on Sunday.
The four were spotted emerging from the tunnels in eastern Rafah. According to the military, the four operatives were
killed by troops and the Israeli Air Force.
The IDF said that following a review of intelligence, it could officially confirm that Mohammad Bawab, the East Rafah
Battalion commander; Ismail Abu Labda, the deputy battalion commander; Tawfiq Salem, a company commander; and Abdullah
Hamad, the son of a senior Hamas official, were the four operatives killed.
Bawab and Abu Labda were responsible for planning the battalion’s invasion of southern Israel during the October 7,
2023, onslaught, the military says.
Hamad, the son of senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, served as a security officer in Bawab’s team, according to the
Operative crosses ceasefire line, hit by troops – IDF
Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade stationed in southern Gaza opened fire Thursday on a Palestinian terror operative who
crossed the so-called Yellow Line that divides Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement, the military said.
The IDF said the operative posed “an immediate threat” to the soldiers.
“The troops opened fire on the terrorists to remove the threat, and a hit was identified,” the military said.
The developments came as Israel confirmed that the remains of Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai farmer whom terrorists
kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023, had been returned to Israel, leaving only one hostage’s body — that of police
officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili — held in the Strip.
In the next stage of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, Israel is meant to withdraw further from the Strip,
alongside the establishment of a transitional authority to govern Gaza, the deployment of a multinational security force
meant to take over from the Israeli military, the disarmament of Hamas, and the start of reconstruction.
Hamas has so far refused to agree on the matter of demilitarization. Israel insists the Strip must be demilitarized
before Trump’s plan can advance. However, the US leader said Wednesday that phase two is “going to happen pretty soon,”
saying the process — which has seen near-daily, deadly violence — is “going along well.”
Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.