Israeli army radio says anti-Hamas leader Abu Shabab dies of wounds

Israel’s Army Radio, citing security sources, said on Thursday that Yasser Abu Shabab, the most prominent anti-Hamas clan leader in Gaza, had died in a hospital in southern Israel of unspecified wounds.

The report did not say when he died, or give further details on the reported injuries.

Hamas had no comment, its Gaza spokesperson said. Other Israeli authorities did not immediately make any comment.

Abu Shabab’s Bedouin group operates in Gaza’s southern Rafah area, in territory still held by Israeli forces.

Hamas has accused him of collaborating with Israel, a charge he denied.

Hamas says it will hand over a Gaza hostage body

Hamas said it will hand over a body of a hostage, as Israel said it would allow Gaza’s gateway to Egypt to open in the next few days so that Palestinians who need medical care could leave the war-ravaged territory.

The handover of the last two hostages’ bodies in Gaza would complete a key condition of the initial part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year Gaza war, which also entails the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opening in both directions.

Israel has kept the crossing shut since the ceasefire came into effect in October, saying that Hamas must abide by the agreement to return all hostages still in Gaza, living and deceased.

Since the fragile truce started, Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages and 26 bodies in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners, but two more deceased captives – an Israeli police officer and a Thai agricultural worker – are still in Gaza.

The armed wing of the Hamas-allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, the Al Quds Brigades, said it had found a hostage body after conducting a search in northern Gaza, along with a team from the Red Cross.

Hamas said it would hand over the remains at 5 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Wednesday. The group did not say which of the two remaining deceased hostages it believed it to be.