Newsletters
Journalist and activist Saleh Aljafarawi was killed Sunday evening while covering events in Gaza City, reportedly by armed groups operating outside the law, according to local sources.
His body was transferred to al-Mamadani Hospital following the incident.
Contact was lost with Aljafarawi, a 27-year-old journalist, on Sunday evening while he was covering the aftermath of Israeli attacks in the al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City.
According to local sources, armed assailants opened fire on him and stole his belongings.
Local and family sources added that Aljafarawi had received death and assassination threats from the Israeli occupation throughout the ongoing war of extermination.
Aljafarawi was a Palestinian journalist and influencer known for documenting the Palestinian narrative and exposing the crimes of the Israeli occupation against civilians and displaced people in Gaza.
He had been covering the events of the war in Gaza since its first day, documenting the ongoing destruction and human suffering on the ground.
Activists had previously warned that Aljafarawi was facing serious threats, following a public incitement campaign against him led by an Israeli military spokesperson.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X (formerly Twitter), attacking Aljafarawi and mocking a photo showing him wearing a dust- and ash-covered press vest.
Attention has now turned to Yasser Abu Shabab and his armed group, who are suspected of involvement in the killing of Aljafarawii.
Yasser Abu Shabab is a gang leader and head of the Popular Forces, an Israeli-backed armed group and criminal gang operating in the Rafah area.
Shabab’s name first surfaced in a Washington Post report citing a U.N. memo that identified him as the main figure behind the systematic looting of aid convoys in Gaza, including one incident where his group allegedly seized 80 out of 100 trucks.
As the armed militia began to expand its presence across various areas of the Gaza Strip, the announcement of the ceasefire disrupted its growing visibility and forced it to confront a new reality it had not anticipated.
The announcement came months after Abu Shabab’s militia first appeared in the media.
There are intersecting reports suggesting that the group has been operating with support, funding, and protection from the Israeli army.
According to a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published in mid-September 2025, the Israeli army and the Shin Bet security service coordinated with local militias in Gaza.
They reportedly used these groups for military and security missions in exchange for money and influence.
Yasser Jihad Mansour Abu Shabab, the most prominent figure among these armed groups, is known locally as the leader of a gang accused of looting aid supplies.
In his thirties and a member of the Tarabin tribe, Abu Shabab presents himself as the commander of the militia, promising Gaza’s residents “stability.”
Hamas fighters redeployed across several streets and areas in the Gaza Strip, engaging in armed clashes with gunmen, according to local reports.
The Quds News Network quoted a security source on X as saying that, “In a well-planned security ambush, the Resistance Security Apparatus managed to neutralize (A.T.), one of the top members of Yasser Abu Shabab’s militia and the official in charge of recruitment within the group.”
The source added that the operation took place in southern Gaza and led to the arrest of several other members involved with the same group.
The security campaign, he said, is part of a broader effort to dismantle armed militias, pursue lawbreakers and reinforce internal security and stability in the Strip.
3 min read
