Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group
says they were aid workers
[June 12, 2025]
By SAMY MAGDY and KAREEM CHEHAYEB
CAIRO (AP) — A unit of Gaza's Hamas-run police force said it killed 12
members of an Israeli-backed militia after detaining them early
Thursday. Hours earlier, an Israel-supported aid group said Hamas
attacked a bus carrying its Palestinian workers, killing at least eight
of them.
The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, said its fighters had attacked
Hamas and killed five militants but made no mention of its own
casualties. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid workers.
It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or
confirm the identities of those killed.
The Israeli military circulated the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 's
statement on its social media accounts but declined to provide its own
account of what happened.
In a separate development, internet and phone lines were down across
Gaza, according to telecom provider Paltel and the Palestinian telecoms
authority. They said a key line was severed during an Israeli operation
and that the military would not allow technicians into the area to
repair it.
Connectivity watchdog NetBlocks confirmed there had been a major
disruption. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
Previous blackouts have deepened Gaza’s isolation and made it difficult
for people to call first responders after airstrikes.
Aid initiative already marred by controversy and violence
The aid group's operations in Gaza have already been marred by
controversy and violence since they began last month, with scores of
people killed in near-daily shootings as crowds headed toward the food
distribution sites inside Israeli military zones. Witnesses have blamed
the Israeli military, which has acknowledged firing only warning shots
near people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
Earlier this week, witnesses also said Abu Shabab militiamen had opened
fire on people en route to a GHF aid hub, killing and wounding many.
The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the Israeli and
U.S.-backed initiative, accusing them of militarizing humanitarian aid
at a time when experts say Gaza is at risk of famine because of Israel's
blockade and renewed military campaign.
Last week, Israel acknowledged it is supporting armed groups of
Palestinians in what it says is a move to counter Hamas. Abu Shabab's
militia, which calls itself the Popular Forces, says it is guarding the
food distribution points set up by the Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long
history of looting U.N. trucks.
GHF has denied working with the Abu Shabab group.
‘They were aid workers’
The foundation said Hamas had attacked a bus carrying more than two
dozen of its local Palestinian aid workers near the southern city of
Khan Younis, killing at least eight and wounding others. It said it
feared some had been taken hostage.
“We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible
terms,” it said. “These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers,
brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives everyday to
help others.”
Rev. Johnnie Moore, a Christian evangelical advisor to U.S. President
Donald Trump who was recently appointed head of GHF, called the killings
“absolute evil” and lashed out at the U.N. and Western countries over
what he said was their failure to condemn them.
“The principle of impartiality does not mean neutrality. There is good
and evil in this world. What we are doing is good and what Hamas did to
these Gazans is absolute evil,” he wrote on X.
Israel and the United States say the new system is needed to prevent
Hamas from siphoning off aid from the long-standing U.N.-run system,
which is capable of delivering food, fuel and other humanitarian aid to
all parts of Gaza.
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U.N. officials deny there has been any systematic diversion of aid
by Hamas, but say they have struggled to deliver it because of
Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza.
U.N. officials say the new system is unable to meet mounting needs,
and that it allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by controlling who
has access to it and by essentially forcing people to relocate to
the aid sites, most of which are in the southernmost city of Rafah,
now a mostly uninhabited military zone. Some fear this could be part
of an Israeli plan to coerce Palestinians into leaving Gaza.
Hamas says it killed traitors
Hamas has also rejected the new system and threatened to kill any
Palestinians who cooperate with the Israeli military. The killings
early Wednesday were carried out by the Hamas-run police's Sahm
unit, which Hamas says it established to combat looting.
The unit released video footage showing several dead men lying in
the street, saying they were Abu Shabab fighters who had been
detained and killed for collaborating with Israel. It was not
possible to verify the images or the claims around them.
Mohammed Abu Amin, a Khan Younis resident, said he was at the scene
of the killings and that crowds were celebrating them, shouting “God
is greatest” and condemning those killed as traitors to the
Palestinian cause and agents of Israel.
Ghassan Duhine, who identifies himself as a major in the Palestinian
Authority's security forces and deputy commander of the Abu Shabab
group, posted a statement online saying they clashed with Sahm and
killed five. He denied that the images shared by Sahm were of Abu
Shabab fighters.
The Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas and based in the
Israeli-occupied West Bank, has denied any connection to the Abu
Shabab group, but many of the militiamen identify themselves as PA
officers.
Mounting lawlessness as Israel steps up military campaign
Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with
Hamas and imposed a complete ban on imports of food, fuel, medicine
and other aid before easing the blockade in mid-May.
The ongoing war and mounting desperation have plunged Gaza into
chaos, with armed gangs looting aid convoys and selling the stolen
food. The Hamas-run police force has largely gone underground as
Israel has repeatedly targeted its forces. The military now controls
more than half of the territory.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on
Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and
taking 251 hostage. They are still holding 53 captives, less than
half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were
released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel's military campaign has killed over 55,000 Palestinians,
according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and
children make up more than half of the dead. It does not say how
many of those killed were civilians or combatants.
Israel's offensive has flattened large areas of Gaza and driven
around 90% of the population of roughly 2 million Palestinians from
their homes. The territory is almost completely reliant on
humanitarian aid because nearly all of its food production
capabilities have been destroyed.
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Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Sam Mednick
in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.
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