“[The death of Yasser Abu Shabab] marks the end of a dark chapter – one that did not reflect our tribe’s history and principles …The Tarabin tribe stands with the Palestinian resistance in all its factions … it refuses to let our tribe’s name or members be exploited to form militias that work for the benefit of the occupation.”
This is what Gaza’s Tarabin tribe said in a statement following the killing of its member Yasser Abu Shabab on December 4. There have been conflicting reports about how he died and who killed him. Some have said it was Hamas fighters who shot him, others that members of his own tribe did. Reportedly, he was taken to an Israeli hospital, where he died of his wounds.
Israel framed the killing as a “tribal dispute” rather than retribution for his collaboration; this was also the position of the Popular Forces militia, which Abu Shabab commanded. This narrative, of course, ignores the fact that his own tribe saw him as a collaborator and welcomed his death.
Throughout the war, Abu Shabab’s name was synonymous with collaboration with Israel. He was a key partner in Gaza in securing safe passage for Israeli troops, searching for Israeli captives, killing Palestinian resistance members, and, most infamously, looting aid trucks. Before he was killed, Abu Shabab was reportedly being considered for the position of governor of Rafah to be appointed by Israel.
His death deals a massive blow to Israel’s efforts to establish a new Palestinian administration in Gaza that responds to its wishes and oppresses the Palestinians. It is yet another proof that the Palestinian people will never accept colonial rule.
For decades, Israel has used collaborators to undermine Palestinian unity and governance. In the early 1980s, it spearheaded the creation of so-called “village leagues” in the occupied West Bank. These represented institutions of local rule headed by individuals funded and protected by Israel in exchange for their loyalty. The aim was to diminish the influence of the Palestine Liberation Organization and spread disunity. However, the leagues were rejected by the Palestinians as illegitimate, and the whole initiative collapsed within a few years.
Now Israel is trying to replicate the same model in Gaza. Funding and arming Abu Shabab was supposed to create a centre of coercive power in Gaza, which would have been fully loyal to Israel. It would have allowed the Israeli occupation to come after the resistance, exterminating its fighters, without having to get its soldiers involved any more or bearing the diplomatic cost of doing so.
Even if Abu Shabab had not succeeded in establishing control over Rafah or the whole of Gaza, sowing internal conflict would have been beneficial enough for Israel. It would have undermined internal security in Gaza, damaging the cohesion of the Palestinian society and encouraging people to leave.
But just like in the past, Israel’s plan was doomed to fail.
Although Abu Shabab had significant financial and military support from the occupation, he could not convince his tribe to follow him or the people of Rafah to join him. He was only able to recruit takfiri extremists, criminals and formerly imprisoned collaborators.
The vast majority of Palestinians saw him as a collaborator. Abu Shabab could not recruit even among those who oppose or dislike the resistance factions because they too would not sell out their principles and work for the genocidal power killing Palestinians every day.
While Abu Shabab provided Israel with security and technical services on the ground, his power was built entirely on crimes and theft, which made him just a hated traitor, not a leader. Despite bragging in videos about giving away stolen aid to the poor or building tent camps with looted tents, he was unable to rally people behind himself.
The Israeli plan to make Abu Shabab into a governor failed because it failed to take into account that one cannot build legitimate governance on crimes.
As much as Israel tried to protect him, his death was inevitable. His tribe and others in Rafah could not accept his collaboration with the occupation, which hurt their honour and longstanding moral ground.
When news of Abu Shabab’s death spread, people in Gaza celebrated, going out into the streets and distributing sweets. Palestinians who had different perspectives about Hamas’s actions were united in their joy. Israel’s attempt to put its hand on Gaza’s future was severed.
Abu Shabab’s death, in the end, sent a powerful message: that any collaborator is a target and no collaborator can achieve legitimacy. After more than two years of genocide, the Palestinian people’s spirit has not broken; they have not given up on their land and on their just cause.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
