Israel eliminates terrorists attempting to attack Yasser Abu Shabab militia
It was recently revealed that Israel is arming the Abu Shabab militia in order to assist it in the war against Hamas, with Netanyahu saying, 'What's wrong with that?'
Israel eliminated Hamas terrorists on Monday evening who were trying to attack the militia of Yasser Abu Shabab in the Gaza Strip. The IDF intervened in a shooting incident between the two parties and conducted an air strike to assist Abu Shabab.
The clash developed around midnight between Hamas militants and militia men in the south of the Palestinian territory, during which both sides opened fire and each party has several fatalities.
Exceptionally, an air force drone was dispatched to the area, monitoring events before striking four Hamas terrorists. This is the first Israeli strike on Gaza whose sole objective is to assist the Abu Shabab militia.
A first offensive by the militia against Hamas
Simultaneously, the militia also announced this morning its first attack against the Hamas security forces in Khan Younis, near its positions east of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Yasser Abu Shabab's lieutenant, Ghassan al-Dahini, wrote in a Facebook post that "a group of special operations forces identified with the Popular Forces attacked a group from the dirty arm of Hamas in the oppression of the people," according to his description. He added: "The Popular Forces used anti-tank rocket launchers for the first time... The group has returned to its bases." He also published a list of names of Hamas terrorists killed by his men.
Israel arms the Abu Shabab militia
Recently, Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Liberman revealed that Israel is arming the Abu Shabab militia to assist it in the war against Hamas, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu all but confirmed. The group has notably been engaged to secure the humanitarian aid distribution corridors. An Israeli source confirmed last week to i24NEWS that "Israel is indeed transferring weapons to groups in Gaza to fight Hamas." It was specified that the weapons distributed to opposition organizations in the strip come from the loot taken from Hamas.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli government has supplied weapons to a militia in Gaza affiliated with Yasser Abu Shabab, a figure linked to the powerful Bedouin Tarabin tribe in Rafah. The force operates under the names of "Popular Forces" and "Anti-Terrorism Unit," although it only had about 300 fighters as of May 2025.
This controversial strategy of Israel to arm local groups to weaken Hamas represents a significant evolution in the conduct of the war in Gaza.