Israel-backed militia to oversee ‘rehabilitation’ of Rafah city

An Israel-backed armed group that has been accused of stealing aid in Gaza is set to oversee the “rehabilitation” of Rafah city, according to Israeli media.

Kan News reports that the Popular Forces - a militia led by former smuggler Yasser Abu Shabab - have been given the go-ahead by Israel to facilitate the work in areas it controls.

Two Israeli sources, speaking to the outlet, confirmed the plan while adding that the Israeli government did not have a wider plan for the anti-Hamas militias operating in Gaza following the army’s long-mooted withdrawal from the enclave.

Abu Shahab has characterised the Popular Forces as a group of Palestinians opposed to Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip.

However, there have been numerous reports of the group engaging in extortion, looting of humanitarian aid and coordinating with the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), which has been accused of overseeing the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians at aid sites.

Some members of the group also reportedly have links to the Islamic State group.

Israel has provided support for the Popular Forces alongside a range of other militias that have increasingly sprung up across Gaza as part of an attempt to undermine Hamas’s hegemony over the enclave.

A Palestinian source familiar with the matter told Kan that associates of Abu Shabab also took part in meetings with senior American officials.

Areas of Gaza controlled by the Popular Forces have enjoyed access to aid and resources that have been otherwise denied to the starvation-stricken enclave.

This is largely due to theft of aid, with an internal 2024 UN report identifying the group as “the most influential stakeholders behind the systematic and massive looting of convoys”.

Despite the announcement of a ceasefire in October, Israel has carried out repeated attacks in Gaza, leaving at least 242 dead, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 69,179 people, including over 20,000 children, in the Gaza Strip, in a military campaign that has been widely characterised as a genocide.