Because the chapter closes on Yasser Abu Shabab, 32, the “In style Forces” militia chief who appeared in Rafah in the course of 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 stated to be injured in the identical altercation, appeared in a video on-line wearing navy fatigues and strolling amongst masked fighters beneath 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 struggle them, arrest their individuals, seize their gear … within the title of the individuals and the free,” he stated.
On Friday, the militia printed a promotional video on an affiliated Fb web page displaying al-Duhaini inspecting a formation of armed fighters.
He informed Channel 12 that the footage was supposed to reveal that the group “stays operational” regardless of the demise of its chief.
“His absence is painful, but it surely won’t 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 assist, and gathering intelligence on tunnel routes and navy websites.
Little data is offered on why he left the safety forces.
Al-Duhaini has been more and more energetic on social media, lately showing prominently in a video displaying the militia capturing and interrogating a number of Hamas members from a tunnel in Rafah.
Abu Shabab’s group claimed the detentions had been performed “in accordance with the relevant safety directive and in coordination with the worldwide coalition”.
He additionally appeared in a social media put up beside what seemed to be a number of our bodies, the caption saying they had 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 stated al-Duhaini survived the blast “by sheer luck”, whereas 4 members of the attacking unit had been killed and others wounded.
What’s the In style Forces militia?
The In style Forces militia first got here to prominence in 2024 beneath the management of Abu Shabab. It has an estimated 100 to 300 fighters who function solely metres from Israeli navy websites, transferring with their weapons beneath direct Israeli oversight.
The militia is based in japanese Rafah, close to the Karem Abu Salem crossing, the one entry level by way of which Israel at the moment permits humanitarian assist into Gaza.
A second unit is in western Rafah, close to the infamous US-Israeli GHF assist distribution level, the place a whole bunch of Palestinians have been shot as they sought assist.
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 assist 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 Wager, 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 challenge” concerned supplying the militia a restricted and monitored variety of rifles and handguns, the paper stated.
Shin Wager’s thought, 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 substitute for Hamas.
Abu Shabab’s title later appeared in an inner United Nations memo in late 2024 that recognized him as a central determine behind the systematic and large-scale looting of humanitarian assist coming into Gaza.
Experiences concerning the group’s funds and operations counsel a sample of systematic profiteering from Gaza’s humanitarian disaster.
