Al Jazeera journalists killed in Gaza again. Who will bear witness?
In this episode:
Mohamed Moawad (@moawady), Managing Editor, Al Jazeera Arabic
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Noor Wazwaz, Sarí el-Khalili, Amy Walters, Sonia Bhagat, and Diana Ferrero, with Melanie Marich, Chloe K Li, Kisaa Zehra, Manny Panaretos, Nadia Hammouri and guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Kylene Kiang and Sarí el-Khalili.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhemm. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
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Abu Shabab emerges Abu Shabab, who leads the 100-man-strong Popular Forces militia, is an elementary school dropout, according to Muhammad Shehada, a visiting fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations. Despite this, he has a sophisticated and multilingual social media presence, and he recently penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal claiming that Palestinians in Gaza were done with Hamas. Analysts believe his refined media presence is likely honed outside Gaza. 'He's not been in touch with society for the last decade,' Shehada said. 'He's a nobody. He's basically a front guy.' His own tribe, the Tarabin, does not approve of his role in Gaza today, making a rare public statement disavowing him for allegedly collaborating with Israel. Abu Shabab began to rise to prominence in late May 2024 after Israel invaded Rafah, in southern Gaza. 'His gang emerges a month later and becomes the main gang that loots the overwhelming majority of food and aid that's going into Gaza systematically under [Israeli military] protection,' Shehada said. About nine out of 10 trucks entering Gaza have been looted, according to United Nations statistics. Israel initially blamed Hamas for the looting, but humanitarian groups refuted that claim, and even the Israeli military was unable to find any proof that that was the case. Instead, international aid workers say it was Abu Shabab who was systematically looting the aid. An internal UN memo obtained by the Washington Post specifically named Abu Shabab 'the main and most influential stakeholder behind systematic and massive looting' in Gaza. During the brief ceasefire that Israel unilaterally broke in March, Abu Shabab disappeared, only to reappear in mid-May when Israel, under immense international pressure, started to allow a trickle of aid back into Gaza. 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