Netanyahu says Israel has 'activated' some Palestinian clans opposed to
Hamas
[June 06, 2025]
By JULIA FRANKEL, SAMY MAGDY and SAM MEDNICK
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday
that Israel has “activated” some clans of Palestinians in Gaza that are
opposed to Hamas, though it was not immediately clear what role they
would play.
His comments on social media were the first public acknowledgment of
Israel’s backing of armed Palestinian groups within Gaza, based around
powerful clans or extended families.
Such clans often wield some control in corners of Gaza, and some have
had clashes or tensions with Hamas in the past. Palestinians and aid
workers have accused clans of carrying out criminal attacks and stealing
aid from trucks. Several clans have issued public statements rejecting
cooperation with the Israelis or denouncing looting.
An Israeli official said that one group that Netanyahu was referring to
was the so-called Popular Forces, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a local clan
leader in Gaza's southernmost city, Rafah. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the
media.
In recent weeks, the Abu Shabab group announced online that its fighters
were helping protect shipments to the new, Israeli-backed food
distribution centers run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the
Rafah area. But some Palestinians say the group has also been involved
in attacking and looting aid convoys.
Netanyahu did not specify what support Israel was giving to the clans,
or what specifically their role would be. His announcement came hours
after a political opponent criticized him for arming unofficial groups
of Palestinians in Gaza.
In a video posted to his X account, Netanyahu said the government made
the move on the advice of “security officials,” in order to save lives
of Israeli soldiers.
Though it was known in southern Gaza throughout the war, the Abu Shabab
group emerged publicly the past month, posting pictures of its armed
members, with helmets, flak jackets and automatic weapons. It declared
itself a “nationalist force” protecting aid.
The Abu Shabab family renounced Yasser over his connections with the
Israeli military in a recent statement, saying he and anyone who joined
his group “are no longer linked” to the family.
The group’s media office said in response to emailed questions from the
Associated Press that it operates in Israeli military-controlled areas
for a “purely humanitarian” reason.
It described its ties with the Israel military as “humanitarian
communication to facilitate the introduction of aid and ensure that it
is not intercepted.”
“We are not proxies for anyone,” it said. “We have not received any
military or logistical support from any foreign party.”
It said it has “secured the surroundings” of GHF centers in Rafah but
was not involved in distribution of food.
It rejected accusations that the group had looted aid, calling them
“exaggerations” and part of a “smear campaign.” But it also said, “our
popular forces led by Yasser Abu Shabab only took the minimum amount of
food and water necessary to secure their elements in the field,” without
elaborating how, and from whom, they took the aid.
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A view of a makeshift tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan
Younis, Gaza on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Abu Shabab and around 100 fighters have been active in eastern parts
of Rafah and Khan Younis, areas under Israeli military control,
according to Nahed Sheheiber, head of the private transportation
union in Gaza that provides trucks and drivers for aid groups. He
said they used to attack aid trucks driving on a military-designated
route leading from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, the main
entry point for aid.
“Our trucks were attacked many times by the Abu Shabab gang and the
occupation forces stood idle. They did nothing," Sheheiber said,
referring to the Israeli military,
"The one who has looted aid is now the one who protects aid,” he
said sarcastically.
An aid worker in Gaza said humanitarian groups tried last year to
negotiate with Abu Shabab and other influential families to end
their looting of convoys. Though they agreed, they soon reverted to
hijacking trucks, the aid worker said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to talk the media.
The aid worker said he saw Abu Shabab’s men operating in
Israeli-controlled areas near the military-held Morag Corridor in
southern Gaza in late May. They were wearing new uniforms and
carried what appeared to be new weapons, he said.
Jonathan Whittall, head of the U.N. humanitarian office OCHA for the
occupied Palestinian territory, said Thursday that "criminal gangs
operating under the watch of Israeli forces near Kerem Shalom would
systematically attack and loot aid convoys. .... These gangs have by
far been the biggest cause of aid loss in Gaza.”
The war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when
Hamas-linked militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some
1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Israel responded with an offensive that has decimated Gaza,
displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people and caused a
humanitarian crisis that has left the territory on the brink of
famine.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 54,000 Palestinians have been
killed, more than half of them women and children. The ministry,
which is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run
government, does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in
its tally.
Hamas is still holding 56 hostages. Around a third are believed to
be alive, though many fear they are in grave danger the longer the
war goes on.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo.
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