TEHRAN – The killing of its most prominent militia leader in Gaza has dealt the occupying Israeli regime a setback.
Yasser Abu Shabab was killed along with several of his aides and his lieutenants in Rafah, south of Gaza, in what some reports said was a well-planned ambush by resistance forces.
The Israeli regime’s military radio first announced the news. According to Hebrew media, regime authorities are investigating whether Hamas members invaded Abu Shabab-held territory and assassinated him.
Abu Shabab rose to prominence after an investigative report revealed that it collaborated with the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), which supplied the militia with vehicles, weapons and luxury goods to weaken Hamas’ armed wing. It was also discovered that members of Israeli-backed militias fought for Daesh.
IOF then placed the militia’s headquarters under its direct protection in a small area of southern Gaza’s Rafah region, within the area still occupied under the so-called “Yellow Line.”
The base’s location is strategically important as it is along the main route used by aid trucks entering Gaza through the Karem Abu Salem crossing, giving the militias a distinct advantage over the flow and control of incoming aid.
When the Israeli regime allowed only small amounts of desperately needed aid to enter Gaza, hungry Palestinians flooded distribution sites run by IOF and US companies. At these sites, Abu Shabaab militias seized much of the aid for themselves.
During the same period, both militias and IOF opened fire on Palestinians gathering for food, killing them amid an ongoing genocide. The Israeli regime later released blurry drone footage of the shooting, trying to shape a narrative that Hamas was responsible for looting aid and firing on its own people.
This level of coordination between Abu Shabaab and IOF at a time when the United Nations was warning that Palestinians were starving to death stands in sharp contrast to the story Abu Shabaab presented to Western media. There he claimed that his actions were motivated by a desire to help the people of Gaza by attempting to overthrow Hamas.
Mr. Abu Shabab was previously imprisoned in Gaza on theft and drug-related charges, but fled after the Israeli regime attacked near his facilities during the early stages of the genocidal war in the besieged enclave.
Immediately after news of his death was reported, Gaza’s Radar security forces, which are affiliated with the Palestinian resistance, distributed a photo of Abu Shabab with the caption: “As we said, the Israeli regime cannot protect you.”
The Hebrew-language Khan Network reported that the gunman met with US Special Envoy Jared Kushner at US military headquarters in southern Israel on November 11 to discuss the role of US forces in occupied areas outside of Hamas control.
Hamas said the Abu Shabab killings represented the inevitable fate of those who chose to cooperate with the Zionist regime. The group said the actions of him and his associates were outside the national and social consensus, and praised local families and tribes who disavowed him and anyone else involved in attacks on Palestinians or cooperating with IOF.
Hamas argued that the occupation regime’s reliance on marginalized criminal groups to advance its objectives in Gaza reflected its inability to counter persistent resistance on the ground.
The movement added that the occupation regime had failed to protect its collaborators and argued that anyone who endangers Palestinians or supports IOF will lose all standing within the community.
Hamas concluded that the unity of Palestinian families, tribes, and state institutions remains a safeguard against attempts to erode Gaza’s social fabric and does not allow it to become a haven for criminal groups or outside objectives.
Much of the debate within the Israeli regime will now center on Abu Shabab, his actions, and whether the regime’s investment in him should be considered a “failure” or a “success.”
But it is becoming increasingly clear that the broader Zionist regime strategy behind this investment, the idea that local militias and light allies can stand in for direct confrontation with major enemies, has fundamentally broken down.
Another internal and external blow to the regime is its inability to build a meaningful political and social alternative to Hamas, despite nearly two years of genocidal war and claims to be planning a viable “next day” scenario.