The killing of Gaza militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab, confirmed by his Popular Forces group and by Israeli media, is the final chapter of a man who tried to present himself – with Israeli support – as an alternative to Hamas, but who was widely derided by Palestinians as a collaborator.In his early 30s and from southern Gaza’s Bedouin Tarabin tribe, Abu Shabab was largely unknown in the Palestinian enclave until his emergence at the head of a militia last year. Initially called the “Anti-Terror Service”, by May this year it had popularised itself as the “Popular Forces”, a well-armed group of at least 100 fighters operating in Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe group operated somewhere between a criminal gang and an Israeli proxy force, but presented itself as a nationalist Palestinian group dedicated to fighting Hamas.That branding served a purpose for Israel, even if its end goal for the group was never clear, particularly once it became evident that the Popular Forces lacked any form of mass popular appeal.That was because, for many Palestinians, Abu Shabab was a criminal – he had been imprisoned by Palestinian authorities in Gaza for a number of years on drug-related charges prior to escaping from jail in the early part of the war on Gaza.His subsequent alliance with Israel, as it committed a genocide in Gaza killing more than 70,120 people, was immediately disqualifying for most Palestinians – including his own tribe, who said in a statement that his killing served as “the end of a dark c …
