Head of Israeli-backed militia reportedly killed in Gaza

The leader of an Israeli-backed militia in Palestine’s Gaza was killed on Thursday, according to Israeli media.

Yasser Abu Shabab, who had worked in cooperation with the Israeli army, was killed in tribal clashes in Gaza, the public broadcaster KAN said, citing anonymous security sources.

Israeli TV channel i24 said that Abu Shabab succumbed to his injuries at Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel.

Amit Segal, an Israeli political analyst for Channel 12, called the militiaman’s death “a bad development for Israel” as “Hamas viewed him as a strategic threat to its rule.”

Last July, Hamas ordered the Gaza gang leader to surrender within 10 days, accusing him of collaborating with Israel and looting humanitarian aid.

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, following comments by a former minister that Israel had transferred weapons to it.

Israeli and Palestinian media have reported that the group Israel has been working with is part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab.

The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) think tank describes Abu Shabab as the leader of a "criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks".

Knesset member and ex-defence minister Avigdor Liberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu's direction, was "giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons".