Yasser Abu Shabab's killing exposes fragility of Israel's attempt to control Gaza

The death of Yasser Abu Shabab, the leader of the "Popular Army" militias collaborating with Israel in the Gaza Strip that emerged during the recent genocidal war, has become a symbol of Israel's failed attempts to create local proxies to fight the Palestinian armed resistance.

Yasser Abu Shabab, leader of the so-called "Popular Army" militias opposing Hamas and collaborating with Israel, was shot during a family dispute on 4 December. He was transferred to Soroka Hospital in southern Israel, where he quickly succumbed to his wounds.

The "Popular Forces" in Gaza announced the death of their founder, affirming that they would continue on his "path." Meanwhile, the Tarabin tribe, the family to which Abu Shabab belongs, issued a statement considering his death the end of a "dark page" that does not represent the tribe's history.

Yasser Abu Shabab was unknown in Gaza before Israel's genocidal war. His name emerged when Israel began forming local groups working for it in the southern sector under the protection of its army. His group, called the "Popular Army," appeared during the first months of the war as a field security arm directly linked to the occupation, tasked with gathering information, creating an anti-resistance environment, and providing logistical support to Israeli forces whenever needed.

Since the moment Abu Shabab was killed, Ghassan al-Duhaini—who served as his deputy and the operational brain of the Popular Army militias—assumed leadership. Al-Duhaini, born in 1987 in the city of Rafah, appeared after Abu Shabab's death in a video wearing military fatigues, inspecting the militia's fighters and declaring the continuation of operations against Hamas.

Multiple sources indicate that al-Duhaini is an officer in the security services of the Palestinian Authority and a member of Fatah, the largest faction within the Palestine Liberation Organisation and political rival to Hamas.

Resounding collapse

Political analyst Talal Awkal told The New Arab that Abu Shabab's killing "represents a resounding collapse of an Israeli project built fundamentally on illusion and a misjudgment of the Gazan society."

"Israel wanted to manufacture artificial influence for marginal individuals with no social or political weight and turn them into tools to control the street. But it ignored that Palestinian society does not grant legitimacy to occupation agents, no matter how much they try to dress them up as bigger than they are," he added.

Awkal points out that Abu Shabab's case exposes the fragility of the Israeli security project in Gaza.

"This man was neither a leader nor a phenomenon. He was merely a small agent, amplified in media and security terms, to perform a temporary function. His rapid fall demonstrates that the 'alternative militias' model Israel is trying to establish has no chance of survival," he remarked. 

Awkal noted that the incident redraws the balance of power within the Strip, stressing, "The resistance clearly stated that anyone choosing the path of collaboration will meet a certain end. This strengthens its position at a sensitive moment in the negotiation. Strategically, what happened sends Israel a harsh message: your alternative tools have collapsed before they even began."

Throughout Gaza's political history, collaboration with the Israeli occupation apparatus has been a marginal phenomenon, typically arising in moments of economic or security collapse, often confined to socially isolated individuals lacking popular roots or genuine influence.

With every Israeli attempt to recreate such groups amid the current genocidal war, it becomes clear once again that Palestinian society—with its national and communal cohesion—swiftly rejects and grants no legitimacy to those who align themselves with the occupier, no matter how much the names or faces change.

Popular welcome

Abu Shabab's killing was met with widespread welcome and tangible relief among the Palestinian street, where the vast majority view any armed groups collaborating with the occupation as "alien" and rejected by society.

Mohammed Salim, a 36-year-old man from Gaza currently displaced in one of the city's schools, said he feels relieved at Abu Shabab's death, considering the event "a clear message that society will not accept any hand extended to serve the occupation, regardless of the flags it hides behind."

"These militias were never part of our national fabric. Everyone, from various affiliations, knows that these groups are despised and represent no one. Their existence is a stigma, and their actions are neither ethical nor loyal. They are more like bandits, not militias with any political or social project," Salim said.

"We saw with our own eyes how they stole aid and denied food to people in the toughest days of the war. They did not spare the hungry or displaced but exploited the chaos for themselves," he added. "We want Gaza to be safe and free from anyone collaborating with the occupation. What happened today should be just the beginning, and everyone who betrayed their people must be held accountable in the way they deserve."

For her part, Abir Mansour, a university student from Gaza, told TNA that the killing of Yasser Abu Shabab "represents the natural and expected end for anyone who chose to stand with the occupation during this war," considering that the course of events "proves that those who sell their homeland can only end up with this fate."

"Abu Shabab had no national legitimacy, no popular base, and no real presence among the people. He was merely a temporary tool in the hands of the occupation, used to achieve specific goals and then discarded once his role was over," she added.

Hamas security forces in Gaza announced via the "Hares" group on the Telegram platform the opening of a repentance window for collaborators affiliated with occupation-backed militias for ten days starting Friday, 5 December 2025, calling on "all agents" to surrender themselves before it’s too late.

A security official within Hamas, who requested anonymity, told TNA that about 13 members of the militias collaborating with Israel "voluntarily surrendered in recent days," indicating that the resistance set the duration of the repentance window until 15 December.

He explained that confessions from those who surrendered "reveal widespread fragmentation and internal turmoil affecting the structure of these groups," affirming that what is happening within them "is no longer just disputes but an accelerating organisational collapse of these militias."

Regarding the estimated total number of people belonging to these militias, the security official claimed, "I believe the number does not exceed the hundreds. Their numbers are decreasing, not increasing, because the militia members are now convinced that the future of these militias will not last long."