Because the chapter closes on Yasser Abu Shabab, 32, the “Well-liked Forces” militia chief who appeared in Rafah throughout the warfare and was extensively considered as a collaborator with Israel, Ghassan al-Duhaini has been named his successor.
Quickly after Abu Shabab was killed final Thursday, reportedly throughout a household dispute mediation, al-Duhaini, who was mentioned to be injured in the identical altercation, appeared in a video on-line wearing army fatigues and strolling amongst masked fighters underneath his command.
However who’s Ghassan al-Duhaini? Has he simply appeared, or was he there all alongside? Right here’s what we all know:
Who’s Ghassan al-Duhaini?
Palestinian media sources say al-Duhaini, 39, has lengthy been the group’s de facto chief, regardless of being formally the second-in-command.
They argue that his expertise and age made him the operational head, whereas Abu Shabab, the determine publicly recruited by Israel, served because the face of the militia.
Al-Duhaini was born on October 3, 1987, in Rafah, southern Gaza. He belongs to the Tarabin Bedouin tribe, one of many largest Palestinian tribes that extends regionally and to which Abu Shabab belonged.
He was a former officer within the Palestinian Authority safety forces, the place he held the rank of first lieutenant.
Then he later joined Jaysh al-Islam, a Gaza-based armed faction with ideological ties to ISIL (ISIS).
Did he actually take over after Abu Shabab?
The militia introduced al-Duhaini as its new commander on its official Fb web page on Friday.
Al-Duhaini pledged to proceed the group’s operations in opposition to Hamas.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, feedback later reported by The Occasions of Israel on Saturday, al-Duhaini insisted he had no worry of Hamas.
“Why would I worry Hamas when I’m combating Hamas? I battle them, arrest their individuals, seize their tools … within the identify of the individuals and the free,” he mentioned.
On Friday, the militia revealed a promotional video on an affiliated Fb web page exhibiting al-Duhaini inspecting a formation of armed fighters.
He informed Channel 12 that the footage was meant to display that the group “stays operational” regardless of the loss of life of its chief.
“His absence is painful, however it is not going to cease the warfare on terrorism,” he declared.
Has he at all times been in opposition to Hamas?
Hamas lists al-Duhaini amongst its most wished figures, accusing him of collaborating with Israel, looting help, and gathering intelligence on tunnel routes and army websites.
Little data is offered on why he left the safety forces.
Al-Duhaini has been more and more energetic on social media, not too long ago showing prominently in a video exhibiting the militia capturing and interrogating a number of Hamas members from a tunnel in Rafah.
Abu Shabab’s group claimed the detentions have been carried out “in accordance with the relevant safety directive and in coordination with the worldwide coalition”.
He additionally appeared in a social media publish beside what gave the impression to be a number of our bodies, the caption saying they have been Hamas males who had been “eradicated” as a part of the group’s “counterterrorism” operations.
Hamas has tried to assassinate al-Duhaini twice, killing his brother in a single operation and narrowly lacking al-Duhaini in one other, when a booby-trapped home east of Rafah was detonated.
A Hamas supply mentioned al-Duhaini survived the blast “by sheer luck”, whereas 4 members of the attacking unit have been killed and others wounded.
What’s the Well-liked Forces militia?
The Well-liked Forces militia first got here to prominence in 2024 underneath the management of Abu Shabab. It has an estimated 100 to 300 fighters who function solely metres from Israeli army websites, shifting with their weapons underneath direct Israeli oversight.
The militia is based totally in jap Rafah, close to the Karem Abu Salem crossing, the one entry level by means of which Israel presently permits humanitarian help into Gaza.
A second unit is in western Rafah, close to the infamous US-Israeli GHF help distribution level, the place tons of of Palestinians have been shot as they sought help.
Safety sources informed Al Jazeera Arabic that the Israeli military oversaw the arming of Abu Shabab and that he leads “felony gangs specialising in intercepting help convoys coming from the [Karem Abu Salem] crossing in southern Gaza and firing on civilians”.
Israeli newspaper Maariv reported in June that Israel’s intelligence company, Shin Guess, was behind the recruitment of Abu Shabab’s gang, its chief Ronen Bar advising Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to enlist and arm the group.
The so-called “pilot undertaking” concerned supplying the militia a restricted and monitored variety of rifles and handguns, the paper mentioned.
Shin Guess’s concept, Maariv continued, was to make use of the gang to check whether or not it might impose a type of “different governance” to Hamas in a small, contained space of Rafah.
Nonetheless, some Israeli safety officers, it added, don’t view the group as a reputable alternative for Hamas.
Abu Shabab’s identify later appeared in an inside United Nations memo in late 2024 that recognized him as a central determine behind the systematic and large-scale looting of humanitarian help coming into Gaza.
Experiences concerning the group’s funds and operations recommend a sample of systematic profiteering from Gaza’s humanitarian disaster.
