Israel armed Palestinian militia to fight Hamas, officials say

JERUSALEM – Israel has been arming a Palestinian militia in the Gaza Strip as part of a broader effort to fight Hamas in the enclave, according to officials.

After a day-long controversy over the allegations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged on June 5 that the country had been working with “clans in Gaza”.

Two Israeli officials and another person familiar with the matter said the Israeli authorities had provided support, including weapons, to Yasser Abu Shabab, a well-known gunman who leads the militia in southern Gaza.

They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

Abu Shabab is believed to command a relatively small armed group in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. He became notorious in the territory in 2024 amid accusations – which he disputed – that he had looted and resold truckloads of humanitarian aid intended for hungry Gaza residents.

One of the people described Israel’s move as more symbolic – to bolster the impression that Hamas was losing its grip over Gaza’s Palestinian residents.

It was not clear what effect the move to arm a Palestinian militia would have on the security situation in Gaza.

But Israel’s decision offered a window into the country’s struggles to find an alternative to Hamas’ rule in the territory after more than 1½ years of war – and its willingness to experiment with potentially risky strategies to do so.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel had “activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas”, calling it “a good thing” that saved the lives of Israeli soldiers.

“What’s wrong with that?” he asked in a video posted on social media, saying he decided to approve the move after being advised by security officials. But he avoided any mention of sending weapons.

Abu Shabab rejected “in whole and in detail” the assertion that his group had received arms from Israel in a statement on social media late on June 5. He said “invalid claims” had been published to discredit an effort that had formed organically and “stood in the face of injustice, looting and corruption”.

Israel has fought to topple Hamas since the group launched the deadly Oct 7, 2023, attacks that ignited the war. But the Israelis have struggled to find a satisfying answer to what could replace the group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.

Mr Netanyahu, along with other senior members of his government, has ruled out allowing the internationally backed Palestinian Authority to take charge in Gaza.

At one point, Israel tried reaching out to prominent Gaza families to help run civilian affairs, Mr Netanyahu said in a televised interview in 2024, but the effort ended in failure after Hamas “eliminated them”.

The Israeli policy of supporting Abu Shabab with arms appeared to surpass the previous efforts to secure partners in Gaza. But it was still unclear how much control the Gaza militia leader had on the ground.

Israeli lawmakers said in March they had been told that Hamas’ forces still numbered more than 25,000.

Abu Shabab’s name became well known during the Gaza war after he was accused of looting United Nations aid trucks en masse in 2024 alongside his gunmen.

One UN official struggling to get relief shipments through to needy Gaza residents described him as “the self-styled power broker of east Rafah”. In an interview at the time, Abu Shabab denied large-scale profiteering, saying he was taking the goods only to feed himself and his family.

But witnesses provided a different account, including one trucker who said he had been seized by Abu Shabab’s men and forced to unload tonnes of aid.

Hamas subsequently cracked down on Abu Shabab’s group, killing his brother, although he himself evaded capture. Official Hamas news media reported at the time that its forces had killed 20 members of “gangs of thieves who were stealing aid”.

In recent weeks, Abu Shabab has been on a social media campaign to burnish his image. This week, he called on displaced Palestinians to return to an area of eastern Rafah that he suggested was under his control.

In a video published on Facebook, he said, alongside footage of empty tents, that he would provide them with food and shelter.

Mr Yossi Amrosi, a former Israeli intelligence officer who specialised in Gaza, said Abu Shabab’s group and others like it were not supporters of Israel, but that was not the most important factor for now. He estimated the group’s strength at a couple of hundred fighters.

“At this moment, we have a common enemy: Hamas,” he said.

But he warned that if Israel was indeed provisioning Abu Shabab’s forces, “that would require close oversight to ensure that it doesn’t backfire”.

Mr Netanyahu’s announcement came after Mr Avigdor Liberman, an opposition member of Israel’s Parliament and a former defence minister, accused the Prime Minister in a radio interview of authorising weapons transfers to a criminal gang in Gaza.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on social media on June 5 that Mr Netanyahu’s decision to send arms to the militia would ultimately backfire.

“It’s all being done on the fly, without strategic planning; it will all lead to disaster,” Mr Lapid said. “The weapons going into Gaza will eventually be pointed at Israeli soldiers and civilians.” NYTIMES