Anti-Hamas militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab was killed on Thursday in an “internal clash” in the southern Gaza Strip, Times of Israel reported, citing Israeli defence sources. According to the sources, Abu Shabab was taken to a hospital in Israel, where he died of his wounds.Abu Shabab, a Bedouin tribal leader based in Israeli-held Rafah, led the most prominent of several small anti-Hamas groups that emerged in Gaza during the war. 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.When and Where: The incident occurred on Thursday in the southern Gaza Strip. As of Thursday afternoon, there was no official comment from the militia or Israeli authorities.Hamas, which branded Abu Shabab a collaborator and ordered its fighters to kill or capture him, has denied that his group received backing from Israel. Despite a US-backed ceasefire reached in October, the group continued to operate in areas controlled by Israeli forces. On November 18, the group posted a video 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.Israel’s broader operations in southern Gaza also continued. The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that security forces had killed more than 40 Hamas operatives in that area, including the commander of Hamas’s East Rafah Battalion, his deputy, and two other terror operatives, all of whom were killed on Sunday. According to the military, the four were spotted emerging from tunnels in eastern Rafah and 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 said. Hamad, the son of senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, served as a security officer in Bawab’s team.Meanwhile, troops of the 7th Armoured Brigade stationed in southern Gaza opened fire on Thursday on a Palestinian terror operative who crossed the so-called Yellow Line that divides Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement. 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.In related developments, Israel confirmed that the remains of Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai farmer kidnapped by terrorists from Israel on October 7-2023, had been returned to Israel. Only one hostage’s body remains held in the Strip—that of police officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.In the next stage of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, Israel is meant to withdraw further from the Strip, establish a transitional authority to govern Gaza, deploy a multinational security force to take over from the Israeli military, disarm Hamas, and begin reconstruction. Hamas has so far refused to agree on demilitarisation. Israel insists the Strip must be demilitarised before the plan can advance. However, the US leader said Wednesday that phase two is “going to happen pretty soon,” adding that the process is “going along well.”
