Israel-backed militia to oversee ‘rehabilitation’ of Rafah city
Palestinians carry humanitarian aid they had gathered after an aid drop,walking in the Mawasi area of Rafah, southern Gaza on 18 August 2025
Middle East Eye reports on 12 November 2025:
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. lSome 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.