When President Donald Trump Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met this week, the question of who Gaza could rule if Hamas loses power one that is increasingly being discussed. Among the emerging options are local clans and militia leaders.
One of the aforementioned is Yaser Abu Shabab. Once imprisoned by Hamas on the accusation of theft and corruption, he now recommends groups of armed men in Gaza’s Rafah who patrol and protect auxiliary voyage, while openly challenging Hamas’s power. “We are not a militia,” he was in an interview with Israeli outlet Ynet. “Call us terror forces. Our goal is to protect Palestinian human rights against Hamas terrorism.”
The group of Abu Shabab, known as the ‘Popular Forces’, began to form at the beginning of 2024 after the IDF entered Rafah and Hamas lost control of the area. Allegedly under the Israeli protection, his men now guide help trucks, distribute stocks and claim control over parts of East Rafah.
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Yaser Abu Shabab leads an Anti-Hamas militia in Gaza. (The Center for Peace Communications)
Abu Shabab represents a test case for Israel. Can home -grown Hamas actors replace in Gaza – one enclave at the same time?
He also rejected claims that Abu Shabab has ties with ISIS. “That is disinformation pushed by Hamas and repeated in the West,” said Braude. “His cousins in the Sinai help to combat Egypt ISIS. He is not part of that world.”
But others see the rise of Abu Shabab as a disturbing ultrasound of past Israeli miscalculation.
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Milshtein claimed that the support of Israel for the group of caught Hamas weapons and coordination of Palestinian officers in Ramallah included. “Hamas even shot RPGs on them while ceases -furen,” he said. “And Israel responded by hitting Hamas. It is clear that they are being protected.”
Hamas terrorists come from the shade while they surround Red Cross vehicles. A Palestinian man was killed by Hamas terrorists after protest against the group, according to reports. (TPS IL)
Abu Shabab, who belongs to the influential Tarabin Bedouin Clan, says his resistance started when he saw Hamas to make humanitarian aid. “I started grabbing trucks and handing out food,” he said Ynet. “I became a wanted man from Hamas, but I fed children. My conscience is clear.”
Reactions have been mixed in Gaza. Some locals reportedly follow Abu Shabab because they fear Hamas more than they trust him. Others, such as political analyst Mkhaimar Abusada, claim that his support is superficial.
Yaser Abu Shabab with members of his militia. (The Center for Peace Communications)
“He was rejected by his own tribe,” said Abusada, currently a visiting scholar at Northwestern University. “The Tarabin sees him as an employee. When Israel leaves Gaza, Abu Shabab will disappear – or be hunted by Hamas.”
In YNET interviewAbu Shabab said: “We will not leave the Gaza Strip and will continue to fight Hamas until the last death is”, and added that his group supports the return of Israeli hostages. “Hamas calls me a thief, a traitor, even ISIS – all to frighten people. But they are those who have killed children, such as the Bibas family. They live in tunnels. We have lost everything.”
In his interview on Sunday, Abu Shabab denied any connection with Israel. “We are people of peace and brotherhood and do not want wars,” he emphasized. “Our connection goes with the Palestinian authority – that’s all.”
Israeli hostages Averu Mengistu and Tal Shaham are flanked by Palestinian Hamas terrorists while they stand on a stage during their release in Rafah in the Southern Gaza Strip on 22 February. (Omar al-Qattaa/AFP via Getty images)
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Yet Milshtein sees the project as short -sighted. “There is no strategy here,” he said. “Just tactical improvisation. The same people who have not prevented them from preventing October 7 now bet on someone like Abu Shabab. It is delusion – and it is dangerous.”
Braude said that Abu Shabab is not an ideologist. “He is a hunter, not a politician,” he said. “But if someone like him can hold territory while professionals build in a civil administration, then that is a meaningful precedent.”
