The photo shows a lean, tanned man in a dark helmet. He’s grasping a rifle and UN vehicles move behind him as he waves through traffic.

The man is Yasser Abu Shabab, who says he commands hundreds of armed men known as the Popular Forces to offer protection to international organizations working in southern Gaza.

In his early thirties, Abu Shabab is from a prominent Bedouin family in southern Gaza. On October 7, 2023, he was languishing in a Hamas-run jail in Gaza, accused of drug trafficking, before being released after the conflict started.

Now he is an emerging presence in southern Gaza, controlling aid routes near the crucial Kerem Shalom crossing and providing men to guard convoys against looting, which has only worsened since limited aid started entering Gaza in mid-May following an Israeli blockade.

As Hamas’ grip on Gaza has weakened and the territory’s police force has been hollowed out, gangs have emerged to steal humanitarian aid from convoys and re-sell it. But many convoys are also stopped and ransacked by desperate civilians.

The reality is more complicated.

For its part, Hamas says Abu Shabab is a traitor and a gangster. Last week, the group said: “We pledge before God to continue confronting the dens of that criminal and his gang, no matter the cost of the sacrifices we make.”

Hamas killed his brother last year and has tried to kill Abu Shabab at least twice, according to Muhammad Shehada, a Gaza analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Israel – and in particular Netanyahu – has never laid out clear plans for what governance and security in Gaza might look like if or when Hamas is defeated. Israel has been trying to find groups or clans opposed to Hamas who might play a role, but more recently Netanyahu and other ministers endorsed a plan put forward by US President Donald Trump for relocating Gaza’s residents and redeveloping the territory.

A growing role

Abu Shabab has had a presence near the ruins of Gaza’s long defunct airport in Rafah since late last year. Shehada at the ECFR said that while the ceasefire held earlier this year, his group appeared to vanish.

But his significance has grown in recent weeks, since Israeli authorities began to allow a trickle of aid to reach Gaza through Kerem Shalom in mid-May. Abu Shabab’s social media presence, along with slick videos and fluent English commentary, has expanded.

“It’s nearly impossible this is being done inside Gaza,” Shehada said. “It’s probably someone outside that is running this entire psy-op.”

Abu Shabab “has a few square kilometers of an area under his control, and then it’s on to the next guy,” the official said. “The fact that he is not targeted by the Israelis is a clear indication of how they see him.”

The official also asserted that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – the controversial new US-backed organization tasked with distributing aid in Gaza – had contact with Abu Shabab, whether directly or indirectly.

Convoys and more

Last month, soon after limited aid began entering Gaza, Abu Shabab posted that his group had secured 101 trucks of aid, mostly flour, brought in by the World Food Programme, and praised “my loyal brothers who sacrificed their lives, and everyone who volunteered their primitive weapons or a drop of sweat to feed the bereaved and displaced.”

His group’s role has expanded beyond protecting convoys.

The camp is less than 500 meters from where Abu Shabab runs checkpoints.

Four days later the so-called Popular Forces issued a statement saying that Abu Shabab “invites the residents of these areas to return, where food, drink, shelter, security and safety have been provided, shelter camps have been set up, and humanitarian relief routes have been opened.”

The encampment is in an area known as the Morag Corridor, to which the Israeli military wants Gazans to move as it orders evacuation orders for much of the strip.

Early in May, the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the population of Gaza, would be “concentrated” in a narrow strip of land between the Egyptian border and the corridor.

A senior Israeli security official said at the same time that the goal was to separate humanitarian aid from Hamas “by involving civilian companies and creating a secured zone patrolled by the IDF.”

This would include a “sterile area in the Rafah region beyond the Morag route, where IDF will screen all entrants to prevent Hamas infiltrators.”

Palestinian branding

Nor does his family want anything to do with him.

“Leaders and elders of the Abu Shabab family” said in a statement that they had confronted him about videos showing “Yasser’s groups involved in dangerous security engagements, even working within undercover units and supporting the Zionist occupation forces that brutally kill our people.”

The family declared its “complete disassociation from Yasser Abu Shabab” and urged anyone who had joined his security groups to do the same.

“We have no objection to those around him eliminating him immediately; we state clearly that his blood is wasted,” the family statement said.

He said his group had endured “false accusations and systematic smear campaigns, and we have paid a heavy price,” also alleging that Hamas had killed several of the group’s volunteers “and members of my own family while we were guarding aid convoys for international organizations.”

Muhammad Shehada at ECFR said there is evidence that Abu Shabab’s presence is expanding with Israeli support into Khan Younis, to the north of his stronghold.

Even so, his reach is still limited. The Popular Forces speaks of “hundreds of daily requests we receive on our Facebook page from individuals seeking to join us,” but analysts believe Abu Shabab probably has only about 300 men under his command.

Most people in Gaza would never think of joining him for fear of being branded collaborators, said Shehada.

Even so, he added, Abu Shabab’s militia now serve multiple functions for the Israelis, helping control where aid goes, or does not go; trying to entice desperate and hungry people to the so-called ‘safe zone’ in eastern Rafah; and carrying out high-risk missions to detect the presence of Hamas fighters.

Israel vowed on Sunday to stop an aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists on board from reaching Gaza.

As of Sunday evening, the UK-flagged civilian vessel was north of Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea, slowly approaching the coast of Gaza. The “Madleen” is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an organization that has campaigned against Israel’s blockade of Gaza and tried to break the siege by boat.

“But of course none of those risks are even remotely as high as the risk that Palestinians are facing everyday just by trying to survive.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated that the Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, would not make it to the besieged enclave.

“I have instructed the IDF to ensure that the ‘Madleen’ flotilla does not reach Gaza,” said Katz in a statement, referring to the name of the ship.

Katz warned the ship that “you’d better turn back – because you will not reach Gaza.”

“We are still on our way to Gaza. There’s no turning back, and we’re hoping to make it into Gaza within two days,” Acar said.

The coalition campaigns to end Israel’s blockade of Gaza and has tried to reach the enclave several times in the past

After an 11-week blockade that prevented any humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, Israel has begun allowing a trickle of aid in once again.

But it is only a fraction of the aid that entered the enclave before the war, with humanitarian organizations warning of a worsening humanitarian crisis and the growing risk of widespread famine.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, said on social media that the flotilla carries more than food.

“It is not only the aid, it is the HUMANITY THEY CARRY. For all of us,” she said.

The crew, which has publicized the location of the ship with an online tracker, began preparing for the possibility of interception by the Israeli military.

Among those joining the crew are Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament, and “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham.

“From both a legal and moral standpoint, Israel has no right to intercept this vessel,” the group said in a statement.

“The people of Gaza, under siege, starving, and facing the threat of annihilation, have the legal right to decide who enters their territories.”

Last month, another vessel from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition came under what its organizers said was an Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta in international waters. The group did not provide evidence that the drone was Israeli, while the Israeli military has declined to comment on the alleged attack.

The ship, the “Conscience,” was heading to Malta, where a large contingent of activists were due to board before it departed for Gaza, more than 1,000 miles away, but had not made it into port, the group said.

The Israeli military recovered the body of de facto Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar in a tunnel underneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday.

The IDF said it made the announcement after the body went through an identification process.

Sinwar is the younger brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the Israeli military in southern Gaza in October.

His death marks the latest in a string of assassinations that have dealt a serious blow to the group’s top brass but are yet to break its grip on power in the besieged enclave.

The elusive Sinwar was targeted in a massive airstrike on the hospital in Khan Younis on May 13, a day after Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander.

At the time, the IDF said it had struck “Hamas terrorists in a command-and-control center” in underground infrastructure at the hospital.

But it took more than two weeks for Israel to say that it had definitively killed Sinwar in the strike.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement on the 600th day of the war two weeks ago.

“We changed the face of the Middle East, we pushed the terrorists from our territories, we entered the Gaza Strip with force, we eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, we eliminated (Mohammad) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,” Netanyahu said in a speech at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

The attack killed 28 Palestinians and wounded more than 50 others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said after the strike.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has said the Israeli military has boarded its Gaza-bound aid ship carrying Greta Thunberg and that communication with the boat has been lost.

The group posted a photo on Telegram early Monday local time, showing members of the crew of the “Madleen” sitting inside the boat wearing lifejackets and with their hands in the air. No Israel Defense Force soldiers can be seen in the image.

In an earlier post, the FFC said the ship had come “under assault in international waters.”

“Quadcopters are surrounding the ship, spraying it with a white paint-like substance. Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio,” FFC said on its Telegram channel.

Israel has repeatedly vowed to stop the aid boat from reaching Gaza.

“I have instructed the IDF to ensure that the ‘Madleen’ flotilla does not reach Gaza,” Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said on Sunday.

In a video livestreamed from the boat and posted by the FFC, activist Yasmin Acar showed a white substance on the deck, saying it had been dropped on the vessel. Acar was later heard saying it was affecting her eyes. Before the live stream ended, Acar could be heard saying the Israeli military was communicating with the board

Israel vowed on Sunday to stop the aid boat carrying Thunberg and other activists on board from reaching Gaza.

The “Madleen” is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an organization that has campaigned against Israel’s blockade of Gaza and tried to break the siege by boat.

Climate activist Thunberg, “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan – a French member of the European Parliament – are among those on the Madleen.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted video on X showing a Navy staffer issuing what appears to be a radio message to the vessel.

“The maritime zone off the coast of Gaza is closed to maritime traffic,” the unidentified Navy staff member is heard saying. She is later heard saying aid needs to be delivered through “established channels.”

In a statement, the ministry said “unauthorized attempts to breach the blockade are dangerous, unlawful, and undermine ongoing humanitarian efforts.”

“We call on all actors to act responsibly and to channel humanitarian aid through legitimate, coordinated mechanisms, not through provocation,” the ministry added in a statement on Monday local time.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

North Korea has moved a new warship damaged in a botched launch to a port near the Russian border, a move analysts say could point to a role for Moscow in repairing the vessel.

Satellite images taken Sunday by Maxar Technologies show the 5,000-ton destroyer, as yet unnamed, in a drydock in the port of Rajin, part of North Korea’s Rason special economic zone, which abuts its short border with Russia.

While not a major shipbuilding facility like the shipyard in the northeastern city of Chongjin where the launching accident occurred, Rajin has facilities for modest repairs and maintenance, said Yu Jihoon, director of external cooperation and an associate research fellow at Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

And its proximity to Russia “makes it a key node for North Korea’s efforts to deepen economic and potentially military ties with Moscow,” Yu said.

A 2024 report from the Modern War Institute at West Point, the United States Military Academy, calls the Rason economic zone “a significant point of North Korea–Russia cooperation, recently implicated in North Korean arms shipments to Russia for use in Ukraine.”

The warship was damaged on May 21, when during its launch the stern went into the water but the bow stayed stuck on land. The ship turned on its side in the botched maneuver.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who attended the launching ceremony, ordered the destroyer to be repaired by the late-June plenary session of the ruling Workers’ Party, calling it a matter of national honor.

State media reported last week repairs at the Rajin drydock would take seven to 10 days, meeting Kim’s timeline.

Kim said it’s possible the ship’s sonar and depth finders, located on the bow section, were damaged during the botched launch.

Such damage would likely require foreign help to repair, he said.

“North Korea is believed to lack the technology for sonar systems, so they likely imported them from China or Russia,” Kim said.

“The vessel’s external damage doesn’t seem significant, and the main issue seems to be the water flooding into the warship” was the assessment of the South Korean military, Yu said.

Internal spaces of the ship, as well as machinery and electronics, will have to be purged of sea water and dried salt in the repair process, analysts said.

Yu said Russian assistance in the repair process was a possibility, but it would be difficult to verify if it only involved engineers and not the movement of major pieces of equipment.

North Korea is believed to have sent millions of munitions, including missiles and rockets, to Russia over the past year, according to watchdog the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team.

In return, Russia has provided North Korea with valuable weapons technologies, including air defense equipment, anti-aircraft missiles and electronic warfare systems as well as refined oil, the watchdog said last month.

Israel’s blockade of Gaza may have been partially lifted – and a new US-backed plan to deliver aid has begun. But there are multiple indications that the plight of Gazans is rapidly worsening.

Restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on aid routes, ongoing airstrikes, a lack of security and the continuous displacement of tens of thousands of people are aggravating an already alarming situation, according to the UN and other aid agencies. The supplies that do get in risk getting looted.

“People in Gaza are starving. This demands the urgent opening of all crossings and allowing unimpeded access for humanitarian organizations to deliver aid at scale, through multiple routes,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest assessment.

The number of children in Gaza with acute malnutrition is rising, the UN reported Saturday, while a lack of fuel threatens to close hospitals that are still operating.

The Israeli agency handling the inspection of aid going into Gaza, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said Saturday that 350 trucks containing humanitarian aid had entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the last week – less than 20 per cent of the volume of goods getting into Gaza before the conflict.

And even the aid that gets in frequently does not make it to the most desperate. UN agencies report continuing difficulties with getting distribution routes within Gaza agreed with the Israeli military. OCHA said that out of 16 truckloads ready for distribution last Thursday, five were rejected, including fuel and water, and six failed to reach their destination.

Additionally, the looting of aid convoys in Gaza has risen sharply in recent weeks.

“Operations have faced unprecedented levels of insecurity and a very high risk of looting, with partners reporting that most looting incidents are conducted by desperate civilians,” according to OCHA.

Nahed Shehaibar, head of the Private Transport Association in Gaza, said on Saturday that transport of aid had been suspended “for the third consecutive day due to repeated attacks on trucks, including gunfire that has damaged and put several trucks out of service.”

Last week the association reported that one driver was killed and another injured while trying to deliver aid, but Shehaibar said on Sunday that 11 trucks of commercial goods had reached merchants in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza successfully.

On Sunday, GHF said it operated three distribution sites – two in southern Gaza and one in central Gaza – to hand out more than 17,000 boxes of food. In addition, GHF said in its daily update that it gave more than 10,000 meals to community leaders north of Rafah in what the organization called a pilot test of “direct-to-community distribution.”

But many people who went to the Netzarim site in central Gaza left empty-handed.

Nader Musleh, who had walked from Al-Mawasi several kilometers away, agreed.

“Some people took five or 10 boxes, and there’s no organization at all,” he said.

Mohammad Abu Akouz was one of several civilians who alleged that some people were injured after coming under Israeli tank fire as they made their way to the site.

GHF said it had been unable to open its sites on Saturday, accusing Hamas of making threats against its operations, including against drivers and Palestinian workers. It said the threats had made it impossible to proceed without putting innocent lives at risk.

The drivers had been scheduled to move 180 employees to the three distribution sites, he added.

GHF said on Friday that it had distributed more than 140,000 boxes of food, with each box intended to feed a family for half a week. The boxes contain pasta, lentils and cooking oil, among other products. GHF says its goal is to distribute boxes containing enough food for 4.5 million meals each day.

After last week’s shootings, GHF appealed to people not to arrive at distribution points “before the official opening time or gather near the gates ahead of schedule. This is for your safety and the safety of others.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Saturday in a post on X that gathering outside distribution centers outside of announced hours was “strictly prohibited,” and warned that the areas around the aid hubs were closed military zones between 6 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) and 6 a.m. (11 p.m. ET).

The UN says that the use of the Israeli and American-backed GHF has militarized aid distribution and is inadequate for the huge task of feeding families in Gaza. GHF has no presence in northern Gaza.

In its latest assessment, OCHA said that 90 per cent of families in Gaza lack the cash needed to buy what little food remains available in markets. “Meat, dairy, vegetables and fruit are nearly absent from people’s diets,” it said.

Half of the community kitchens in Gaza have been forced to stop cooking due to lack of supplies or displacement orders, according to OCHA.

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) – the main agency for supplying aid in Gaza – said Saturday that a nutrition study had found that the percentage of children under 5 suffering from acute malnutrition had risen from 4.7% in the first half of May to 5.8% in the second half of the month.

UNRWA said the number of children forced to fend for themselves had pushed an increasing number into “dangerous survival strategies. Children are reported working on the streets, participating in looting or gathering within large crowds in search of food supplies at insecure distribution points.”

It’s not just food that is running chronically short.

He added that “a large number of the wounded cannot be treated due to the lack of blood supplies and medical equipment,” and medical staff faced difficult choices about which patients to save.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Sunday that Al-Shifa Hospital and the Baptist Ahli Hospital, both in northern Gaza, were at risk of shutting down service within 24 hours. It said that would mean the collapse of what remains of the healthcare system in Gaza City.

In the south, the Health Ministry said the Nasser Medical Complex was operating on a limited fuel supply that will last no more than two days.

Acclaimed Ukrainian opera singer Vladislav Horay has been killed while on a volunteer mission to the Sumy region, where a frontline battle for territory continues.

Horay was a soloist with the Odesa National Opera, which said in a statement that he was a “world-class tenor” and “Honored Artist of Ukraine,” whose voice was known around the globe.

“Tragic news has shaken the entire artistic community of Ukraine,” the opera house said in a post on Facebook on Sunday. “(Horay) was not only a talented performer — he was an example of strength, dignity, and kindness in life.”

The post did not say how Horay died.

According to a June 5 post on Horay’s Facebook, he was raising money for a Ukrainian naval unit.

Horay joined the Odesa National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet in 1993 and performed in the USA, Britain, Canada and many other countries, according to its website. He also toured Britain and performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

His last performance was just a day before he died, according to the Odesa opera house, which uploaded a video of Horay singing the Neapolitan song “O Sole Mio.”

“Today, we share this video with you. It is not just a performance. It is farewell. It is the last concert. It is the last gift from a singer who lived for the stage and left a piece of his soul there.”

The northeast Sumy region where the Opera house said Horay was killed, has been a fierce battleground in the Russia-Ukraine war. The Opera said he was there on a volunteer mission, but did not elaborate.

Russian forces have in recent weeks made incremental progress advancing towards the capital of the region, also called Sumy.

While capturing the region’s capital is likely beyond what Moscow is setting out to do, the move underlines the pressure Kyiv is under, from the northern border to the Black Sea.