Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted to utilising and arming gangs in Gaza, in an alleged attempt to counter Hamas.
Coming just after Israeli strikes left at least 52 dead on Thursday, Netanyahu announced that the Israeli government had “activated” local groups.
This marks the first public statement issued by the country admitting to aiding powerful Palestinian groups, accused of criminal activity and looting of aid equipment, exacerbating the famine and genocide under the Israeli blockade.
Former Israeli defence minister and opposition lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman has also placed such allegations on the government, stating that the Abu Shabab group, with which Israel is collaborating, was associated with the Islamic State terrorist group.
“The Israeli government is giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons, identified with the Islamic State, at the direction of the Prime Minister,” said Lieberman to Kan Bet public radio, implying that this collaboration was not approved by the cabinet.
In retaliation, the prime minister reiterated that “Israel is working to defeat Hamas in various ways, on the recommendation of all heads of security establishments.”
Videos and satellite images verified by Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, have identified the expansion of the new Palestinian militia across southern Gaza, operating in areas under direct control of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
Yasser Abu Shabab, leader of the Abu Shabab group, is known to belong to a Bedouin family, locally known in Rafah for their criminal activity.
The militia group terms itself an “anti-terror service,” and reportedly consists of approximately 100 armed men operating in eastern Rafah. They have also been accused of having ties to Jihadist groups.
In recent weeks, Abu Shabab has published a plethora of anti-Hamas and anti-Palestinian messages on Facebook, while simultaneously promoting its efforts.
Their links with the Israeli forces were further confirmed by Yasser Abu Shabab’s family in a statement last week, where they also disowned him.
They said, “We, like everyone else, were surprised by the video footage broadcast by the resistance showing the involvement of Yasser’s group within a dangerous security framework, reaching the point of operating within undercover units and supporting the Zionist occupation forces, who were brutally killing our people.”
