Who is militia leader Abu Shahab, the man wanted by a court in Gaza?
In a statement, the court said: "In accordance with the provisions of Palestinian Penal Code No. 16 of 1960 and the Revolutionary Procedures Law of 1979, the accused, Yasser Jihad Mansour Abu Shabab, born on February 27, 1990 a resident of Rafah, has been given ten days from today, Wednesday, to surrender himself to the competent authorities for trial before judicial authorities."
Who is Abu Shahab?
Abu Shahab, 35, was convicted of drug trafficking and was in a Hamas-run prison on 7 October 2023. He was able to get out of prison, even though the circumstances of his release remain unclear, The Guardian reported in June.
Israeli defence officials said they had begun arming Abu Shahab - nicknamed 'the Israeli agent' - and about 100 armed men who operate under him in eastern Rafah. Members of his group have been accused of looting trucks containing humanitarian aid.
In June, Jonathan Whittall, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in occupied Palestinian territories, said the looting was happening under Israeli control: 'Theft of aid since the beginning of the war has been carried out by criminal gangs, under the watch of Israeli forces and they were allowed to operate in proximity to the Kerem Shalom crossing point into Gaza.'
Whittall told The Guardian that he was referring to militias such as Abu Shahab's.
The Guardian also said the officials said the goal of arming Abu Shahab's militia is to reduce Israeli military casualties and undermine Hamas, leading to concerns that the backing of the militia might push Gaza into a civil war.
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