Abu Shabab, long known in Gaza for smuggling and other illicit activity, deployed several hundred gunmen across these districts, claiming to restore order while advancing Israeli objectives and profiting from the humanitarian collapse.
His “Popular Forces”, popular only in name and lacking any real legitimacy, acted as an Israeli-backed proxy, deepening instability as fighters posed as aid protectors while coordinating with Israeli forces and exploiting famine under Israel’s blockade.
Aid groups and residents said the militia operated under Israeli military protection, with members seizing food, fuel, and other supplies in areas where the population had been displaced. Israel has acknowledged supporting what it calls “tribal elements,” providing the Popular Forces with rifles, vehicles, and privileged access to aid routes in exchange for intelligence and operational cooperation.
Abu Shabab denied wrongdoing but told the New York Times that he coordinated directly with Israel. “There’s coordination on the level of security, and on the operations around us,” he said. “These aim to prevent any terrorist from infiltrating us.” His reported death in an internal tribal clash underscored how unstable these armed networks are, and how little oversight Israel appears to exercise over the forces it supports.
In the days following his killing, the militia announced a new leader, Ghassan Al-Dahini, a 39-year-old who vowed to escalate operations against Hamas.
Al-Dahini appeared in a video wearing military fatigues and surrounded by masked gunmen, signalling the Popular Forces’ intention to continue operating as an Israeli-backed proxy in southern Gaza.
Before joining the Popular Forces, Al-Dahini was allegedly a member of Jaysh Al-Islam, a Salafi-jihadi armed group in Gaza with documented ties to the Islamic State group.
In northern Gaza, a similar pattern has emerged under Ashraf Al-Mansi, whose People’s Army operates in the devastated districts of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia.
Verified videos show his men moving supplies through routes connected to Israeli-supervised crossings.
Al Jazeera, citing Israeli intelligence sources, reported that these militias receive guidance from the Shin Bet and the military’s Unit 8200.
Other groups have exploited Gaza’s collapse in civil order. In Khan Yunis, fighters loyal to Housam Al-Astal—previously imprisoned on suspicion of collaborating with Israel—were filmed moving freely in areas normally off-limits without Israeli approval.
Al-Astal later formed the Counter-Terrorism Strike Force and publicly confirmed working with Israeli forces. In one documented incident, Israel struck Hamas fighters to prevent an attack on Al-Astal’s group.
In eastern Gaza City, a militia led by Rami Adnan Helles has claimed control of parts of the north, illustrating how Israel-enabled groups are expanding into areas stripped of formal governance.
“We have an official project—me, [Yasser] Abu Shabab, [Rami] Helles and [Ashraf] Al-Mansi,” militia leader Al-Astal told Sky News from his base in southern Gaza. “We are all for ‘The New Gaza’. Soon we will achieve full control of the Gaza Strip and will gather under one umbrella.”
Residents broadly describe these militias as criminal surrogates empowered by Israel, a view even echoed by some Israeli officials.
“They will always be considered traitors and collaborators,” Shalom Ben Hanan, a former senior Shin Bet official, told the New York Times.
Montaser Bahja, a teacher in Gaza City, said of Abu Shabab: “This man was basically a criminal, and I could not accept for him to represent me.”
Israel has also pursued a political strategy of courting influential clans for a post-war order that would sideline Hamas and constrain Palestinian national aspirations. Intelligence officers have contacted families directly, according to sources familiar with the outreach.
Muhammad Shehada, a close watcher of the Gaza war and a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Responsible Statecraft that “Shin Bet officers would actively reach out to people on their phones or send them middlemen with a clear message of ‘here are weapons, here is money, your job is to challenge Hamas.’” He added that “Not a single clan agreed as a clan, but members within the clan agreed.”
One target has been the Doghmush family.
Several members have been publicly executed in recent weeks, and clan leader Nizar Doghmush said some relatives had attacked Hamas at Israel’s request. At least 27 people have been killed in clashes between Hamas and the clan since the 10 October ceasefire—brokered by Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye, and the US and signed in Sharm El-Sheikh.
Responsible Statecraft reports that Israel is now backing at least four Palestinian militias across Gaza, some working directly with the Israeli army. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged cooperating with unnamed groups.
Khaled El-Gindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University and a former adviser to Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders, told Responsible Statecraft that the strategy allows Israel to cast the resulting unrest as an internal Palestinian conflict.
“There is quite a lot of potential there for these groups to be disruptive,” he said. “And to the outside world, it will look like intra-Palestinian violence.”
Hamas and other factions have begun cracking down on the militias, a campaign supported by residents angered by looting and the collapse of law and order.
Nonetheless, Israel’s approach risks deepening fragmentation, empowering criminal groups, and locking Gaza into prolonged instability, with militias filling the vacuum left by war, occupation, and the erosion of civil institutions.
Months of Israeli bombardment have levelled entire districts, and Israel’s blockade has driven parts of the enclave into what United Nations (UN) agencies describe as full-blown famine.
The Israeli army has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and injured over 171,000 others, mostly women and children, since the outbreak of its war on the strip in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
UN experts, humanitarian agencies, and rights groups have characterized Israel’s war as a genocide, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to prevent acts that could violate the Genocide Convention.
Independent analysts and humanitarian organizations warn that the true death toll is likely far higher, with many bodies still under rubble and rescue services collapsed amid Israel’s deliberate investment in the disorder.
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