World
Powerful Israel-backed clan leader who fought Hamas murdered in Gaza
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A powerful anti-Hamas clan leader protecting civilians in Gaza and allegedly backed by Israel has been murdered in Rafah, according to multiple reports.
Yasser Abu Shabab, head of the Abu Shabab militia, known locally as the “Popular Forces” of the Gaza Strip, had risen to prominence for his cooperation with Israel against Hamas’ influence in the region, according to analysts.
“Abu Shabab militia helped Israel to protect the locals and prevent Hamas from harming them,” Professor Kobi Michael, senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and the Misgav Institute told Fox News Digital.
DOZENS KILLED IN GAZA AS VIOLENCE ERUPTS BETWEEN HAMAS AND ARMED CLANS
Yaser Abu Shabab leads an anti-Hamas militia in Gaza. (The Center for Peace Communications)
“Hamas has become deeply troubled because of these militias and makes its utmost efforts to dismantle them. It perceives them as a real threat, but the fact that Abu Shabab was murdered by a rival, Hamula, indicates that it will not be enough just to disarm Hamas.
“Still, without an effective alternative governance to Hamas, the Strip will deteriorate into chaos.”
As reported by Fox News Digital in July, Abu Shabab’s group began forming in early 2024 after the IDF entered Rafah and Hamas started to lose control of the area.
AFTER TRUMP DECLARES ‘WAR IS OVER,’ HAMAS EXECUTES RIVALS IN GAZA TO REASSERT CONTROL
Hamas terrorists in the northern part of the Gaza Strip Dec. 1, 2025. (Omar Al-Qatta/AFP via Getty Images)
Allegedly operating under Israeli protection, his men were escorting aid trucks, distributing supplies and asserting control over parts of eastern Rafah.
On Thursday, The Jerusalem Post reported sources claiming Abu Shabab was initially wounded in a clan-related confrontation. He was subsequently evacuated to a hospital in southern Israel, where he later died from his injuries.
The Popular Forces later released a statement, also cited by The Jerusalem Post, confirming Abu Shabab’s death and insisting he had been killed while attempting to resolve a local dispute.
WARFARE EXPERT CALLS GAZA REBUILDING PLAN ‘DISNEYLAND STRATEGY’ TO DEFEAT HAMAS
Yaser Abu Shabab leads the Popular Forces in Rafah. (Courtesy: The Center for Peace Communications)
The group vowed to continue its operations until “the last terrorist was eliminated in Gaza,” adding that it would keep pursuing “a bright and secure future for our people who believe in peace,” the outlet said.
In a past interview with Ynet, Abu Shabab said, “We will not leave the Gaza Strip and will continue to fight Hamas until the last one is dead.”
A senior U.N. official, Georgios Petropoulos, also once referred to him as “the self-styled power broker of east Rafah,” according to a previous New York Times interview.
ISRAEL SAYS HAMAS VIOLATED CEASEFIRE WITH ‘MULTIPLE ATTACKS’ LEADING TO IDF RESPONSE
Terrorists in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah celebrate the ceasefire on Jan. 19, 2025. (TPS-IL)
“Israel has never believed that these militias can replace Hamas or become an effective ruler of the Gaza Strip,” added Michael.
“But both sides have a common enemy — Hamas. On the other hand, these militias were and are against Hamas and willing to fight Hamas. Israel perceived these militias as another operational tool in its war against Hamas and established cooperation with them based on local interests and essence.”
According to Reuters, Abu Shabab’s militia continued operating from Israeli-controlled areas of southern Gaza following the U.S.-backed ceasefire in October.
IDF STRIKES HAMAS ‘TERRORIST TARGETS’ ACROSS GAZA FOLLOWING REPORTED CEASEFIRE VIOLATION
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7 2023, attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages and prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip Feb. 22, 2025. (Reuters/Hatem Khaled/File Photo)
On Nov. 18, the group posted a video showing fighters preparing for a security sweep to “clear Rafah of terror,” referencing Hamas forces believed to be hiding in the area.
As reported by Fox News Digital, the ceasefire created a new landscape of militias, clan groups and networks as Hamas’ control weakened throughout the region, including the Popular Forces in Rafah.
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“The situation is very fragile and unstable as long as Hamas is able to operate freely in Gaza,” Michael added.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the IDF and Israeli government for comment.
World
Minnesota braces for what’s next amid immigration arrests and in the wake of Renee Good shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration officer, Minnesota’s Twin Cities on Sunday braced for what many expect will be a new normal over the next few weeks as the Department of Homeland Security carries out what it called its largest enforcement operation ever.
Protesters screamed at heavily-armed federal agents and honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt their operations in one Minneapolis neighborhood filled with single-family homes.
There was some pushing and several people were hit with chemical spray just before agents banged down the door of one home on Sunday. They later took one man away in handcuffs.
“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”
Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.
People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners in the neighborhood where 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed Wednesday, watching for any signs of federal agents.
More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .
“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.
The protests have been largely peaceful, but the Twin Cities remained anxious. Minneapolis public schools on Monday will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.
Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.
While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said on Sunday that the investigation into Good’s shooting death shouldn’t be overseen solely by the federal government.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.
“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened,” Smith said on ABC’s “This Week.”
The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.
Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”
“That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.
Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn’t be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”
The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests across the country over the weekend.
Thousands of people marched Saturday in Minneapolis, where Homeland Security called its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation.
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Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis, Thomas Strong in Washington, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
World
Netanyahu and Rubio discuss US military intervention in Iran amid ongoing nationwide protests: report
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of U.S. intervention in Iran, according to a report.
The two leaders spoke by phone Saturday as Israel is on “high alert,” preparing for the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Iran, according to Reuters, citing multiple Israeli sources. A U.S. official confirmed the call to Fox News Digital but did not provide additional details.
The report comes as nationwide anti-regime demonstrations across Iran hit the two-week mark.
On Saturday, the Iranian regime triggered an internet “kill switch” in an apparent effort to conceal alleged abuses by security forces and as protests against it surged nationwide, according to a cybersecurity expert. The blackout reduced internet access to a fraction of normal levels.
KEANE WARNS IRANIAN REGIME TO TAKE TRUMP ‘DEAD SERIOUS’ ON PROTEST KILLING THREAT AMID ONGOING DEMONSTRATIONS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio holds his end-of-year press conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2025. (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters)
On Sunday, Iran’s parliament speaker warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America strikes the Islamic Republic.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued the threat as lawmakers rushed the dais in the Iranian parliament, shouting, “Death to America!” according to The Associated Press.
President Donald Trump offered support for the protesters on Saturday, writing on Truth Social that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
IRANIAN MILITARY LEADER THREATENS PREEMPTIVE ATTACK AFTER TRUMP COMMENTS
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
At a news conference Friday, Trump said Iran was facing mounting pressure as unrest spreads across the country.
“Iran’s in big trouble,” he said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully.”
The president said the U.S. would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence.
“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts,” he said.
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Protests in Iran intensify for the 12th day. (The National Council of Resistance of Iran)
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and White House for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey, Brie Stimson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Four killed, 20 injured in overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine
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Russia fired more than 150 drones overnight into Sunday targeting close to two dozen locations across Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring 20 more.
Ukraine’s Air Forces say they intercepted 125 drones aerially but confirmed that at least 25 strike drones struck their targets.
They added that Moscow’s latest barrage mainly targeted Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, all of which were targeted in Saturday’s overnight strikes as well.
Local officials in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia say the strikes targeted residential areas and energy infrastructure. More than 385,000 homes were affected by electric, gas or water outages, at a critical time as temperatures plunged to 10 degrees below Celsius.
Regional lawmakers say service was restored to most of the affected households and areas by Sunday morning, but added that emergency work was still being carried out to restore power to the remaining homes.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of timing their attacks with the cold peaks of winter as to maximise civilian suffering.
“They struck targets that have no military purpose whatsoever – energy infrastructure, residential buildings. They deliberately waited for freezing weather to make things worse for our people. This is deliberate, cynical Russian terror specifically against civilians,” wrote Zelenskyy in a post on X.
He also noted that this week had seen heightened Russian assault on Ukrainian cities, announcing that his country’s defence forces recorded thousands of attacks using a variety of different weapons.
“Over the course of this week, Russia launched almost 1,100 attack drones against Ukraine, more than 890 guided aerial bombs, and over 50 missiles of various types – ballistic, cruise, and even the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile.”
The Ukrainian leader thanked all units responsible for protecting the country and responding to attacks, and praised their tireless efforts and resilience.
He also called on allies to ensure his embattled country maintains “stable support”, in defence and diplomatic fields as coordinated dialogue efforts continue in search of peace.
Meanwhile, Russia says that one person was killed in Ukrainian strikes on the western city of Voronezh. Officials say a young woman succumbed to her wounds at an intensive care unit of a local hospital after debris from a drone fell on her house during Saturday’s attacks.
They added that at least three others were injured in the attacks which targeted more than 10 residential apartment buildings, private homes and a high school.
The city of Voronezh lies just 250 kilometres from the Ukrainian border and is home to approximately one million people. The attacks, which Kyiv have yet to confirm, came after the Kremlin’s major offensive on Ukraine in the early hours of Saturday.
Additional sources • AP
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