Israeli officials told The Times of Israel that Abu Shabab, a Bedouin tribal leader who headed the armed group known as the Popular Forces, was not killed in a confrontation with Hamas.

He was reportedly wounded during a dispute among several families that escalated into an armed confrontation, according to members of the militia who later spoke to Ynet.

Abu Shabab was subsequently transferred to a hospital in Israel, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

The exact timing of his death has yet to be confirmed.

During the past two years, amid Israel’s prolonged military campaign against Hamas following the October 7 attack, Abu Shabab emerged as a key figure leading armed opposition to the Islamist group in southern Gaza.

Hamas, which had previously labeled Abu Shabab a collaborator and vowed to kill him, denied any involvement in his death, according to The Guardian.

Separately, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the killing of several senior Hamas operatives in Rafah. Those killed include Muhammad Jawad Muhammad al-Bawab, described as the commander of Hamas’ Eastern Rafah Battalion; Ismail Kanaan Abd al-Hay Abu Labdeh, the battalion’s deputy commander; Abdullah Azi Ahmed Hamad, a security operative within the command group; and Tawfiq Khaled Tawfiq Salem, a regional platoon commander.