Popular Forces

The Popular Forces, also known as the Anti-Terror Service, is a Palestinian anti-Hamas armed group active in the Gaza Strip and was led by Yasser Abu Shabab until his death on 4 December 2025. Following Yasser Abu Shabab's death, Ghassan Duhine proclaimed himself the new leader. The Popular Forces are Israeli-backed and allegedly Islamic State (IS)-linked. The group, which has been described as a gang or militia, is made up of approximately 300 men who operate in eastern Rafah and eastern Khan Yunis. The Popular Army – Northern Forces militia of the northern Gaza Strip, led by Ashraf al-Mansi, also reportedly operates as part of the Popular Forces. Israeli support for the Popular Forces was only revealed in June 2025, but the group has been active since the beginning of the Rafah offensive in May 2024. The Popular Forces were able to come to power in Rafah during the Gaza war amid the power vacuum left by a weakened Hamas. The Popular Forces control territory and aid routes near the Egypt–Gaza border, and have been accused of looting humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, described by a United Nations official as "grand larceny". The group maintains that it protects civilians from "the terror of the Hamas government" and denies large-scale looting. In June 2025, the Popular Forces announced that they were helping to protect aid shipments sent to distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and aid truck drivers told CNN that Abu Shabab had furnished men to protect aid convoys. In the same month, the Popular Forces and the Israel Defense Forces were accused of shooting and killing multiple Gazans seeking aid at a GHF aid site. Israeli officials acknowledged sending weapons to the Popular Forces, as part of a program of arming and supporting anti-Hamas elements and clans in the Gaza Strip. Abu Shabab acknowledged collaboration with Israel. Hamas, an unnamed Israeli security official, and Israeli opposition politicians such as Avigdor Lieberman, Yair Golan, and Yair Lapid have alleged that the Popular Forces is affiliated with IS, and have lambasted Israeli support of the group. Some of the prominent figures of the Popular Forces were identified as former IS militants who fought in the Sinai insurgency. A member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, Muhammad Shehada, stated that majority of Abu Shabab's group consists of "convicted murderers, thieves, collaborators, drug dealers or members of ISIS [ISIL] in Sinai or in Gaza itself". Abu Shabab denied connections to IS, labeling the allegations as propaganda meant to sow hostility between Arabs and Israelis.