Palestinians carry aid packages in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Friday.
Credit...Abdel Kareem Hana/Associated Press

Who Is Yasser Abu Shabab, the Leader of the Israeli-Backed Militia in Gaza?

Yasser Abu Shabab, a Bedouin man in his 30s, holds sway in eastern Rafah, an area close to a key border crossing between Israel and Gaza.

by · NY Times

Yasser Abu Shabab is the leader of a Palestinian militia in southern Gaza that Israeli officials say they have armed as part of an effort to undermine Hamas. Mr. Abu Shabab, whose group has denied receiving weapons from Israel, is a Bedouin man in his 30s. He holds sway in eastern Rafah, an area close to a key border crossing between Israel and Gaza.

For months, Palestinians and international humanitarian officials have accused him of looting aid trucks that made their way to distribution sites across Gaza, where hunger has been widespread.

Here is a look at Mr. Abu Shabab.

Here’s what you need to know:

Why is Israel working with Mr. Abu Shabab’s militia?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Thursday that the Israeli government “activated” clans in Gaza opposed to Hamas at the advice of security officials. “What’s bad about it?” he said. “It’s only good and it only saves the lives of Israel Defense Force soldiers.”

Mr. Abu Shabab’s group, the Popular Forces, is believed to comprise a relatively small number of members. It is unclear how many people are in its ranks, but it is much smaller than Hamas.

Israel’s engagement with Mr. Abu Shabab, Israeli analysts said, underscored Mr. Netanyahu’s vacillation on who should take over the future administration of Gaza.

“If you think about who really can be an alternative to Hamas in Gaza, you have two options: either an Israeli military administration or the Palestinian Authority,” said Brig. Gen. Shlomo Brom, a former top Israeli military strategist, now retired.

Mr. Netanyahu, he said, does not want either, because a full occupation of Gaza would be costly, financially and politically, for Israel. And engaging with the Palestinian Authority, he said, would probably require a discussion about a Palestinian state, a prospect opposed by leading members of the Israeli government

“So they’re looking for other solutions,” General Brom said, describing the options as “dubious.”

Who is accusing Mr. Abu Shabab of looting aid?

Gazan transportation company owners, truck drivers, and international humanitarian officials have accused Mr. Abu Shabab of running a sophisticated operation, saying his group had looted trucks filled with sacks of flour.

Georgios Petropoulos, a senior United Nations official who was based in Gaza last year, called him “the self-styled power broker of east Rafah.”

In an interview in November 2024, Mr. Abu Shabab, thin and lightly bearded, denied he looted a large number of aid trucks, although he conceded that his men — armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles — had raided half a dozen or so since the start of the war.

“We are taking trucks so we can eat, not so we can sell,” he said, asserting that he was feeding his family and neighbors. “Every hungry person is taking aid.” He accused Hamas of being primarily responsible for stealing the aid, an accusation that Hamas has denied.

Still, truck drivers have said people who identify as being tied to Mr. Abu Shabab have intercepted them on aid deliveries and forced them to unload flour and other goods.

What is Mr. Abu Shabab’s militia doing in Gaza?

Referring to itself as the Popular Forces, the group started posting photos of its members wielding guns on its Facebook page in May.

In a video posted on Wednesday, Mr. Abu Shabab can be heard calling on people from eastern Rafah to return to their homes, saying that food, medicine and shelter would be provided. The footage features images of several tents that appeared to have been erected in the area.

He also can be heard saying that the Popular Forces are working under “Palestinian legitimacy,” a phrase that Palestinian Authority leaders often use to refer to their government.

The Palestinian Authority, the West Bank-based rival of Hamas, has declined to comment on reports of connections between Mr. Abu Shabab and its government. Maj. Gen. Anwar Rajab, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority security services, told The New York Times: “I will issue a statement clarifying everything soon, as the matter is complex and involves overlapping security, political, and — most importantly — humanitarian factors.”

In other posts, the Popular Forces claimed responsibility for safeguarding dozens of aid trucks entering Gaza, possibly an attempt to burnish its image among Palestinians in the enclave. “We confirm that 92 trucks were secured and entered areas under the protection of our popular forces, and exited safely under our supervision,” the group wrote on May 21.

The post did not clarify which organization hired the trucks to transport the aid, but the Popular Forces have said it had secured trucks for U.N. agencies.

How has Hamas dealt with Mr. Abu Shabab?

In November, Hamas security forces raided Mr. Abu Shabab’s neighborhood, killing more than 20 people, including his brother, according to Mr. Abu Shabab.

“They killed everyone they saw,” he said, adding that he had left the area before the Hamas forces showed up.

Official Hamas media reported at the time that its forces had killed 20 members of “gangs of thieves who were stealing aid.”

Fatima AbdulKarim contributed reporting from Ramallah, West Bank.

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