Particle.news
Download on the App Store
8 ARTICLES
·
19h ago

Netanyahu Confirms Arms Supplies to Anti-Hamas Clans in Gaza

Critics warn that unapproved arms transfers to the Abu Shabab militia—accused of looting aid convoys with alleged Isis ties—could backfire on Israeli forces.

Yasser Abu Shabab, head of the so-called Popular Forces (Photo: Facebook)
TOPSHOT - A picture shows a view of the destruction in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City on October 7, 2024, on the first anniversary of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP) (Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid speaks in Israel's parliament in October last year.
Image

Overview

  • Netanyahu publicly acknowledged that Israel supplied rifles and handguns to Palestinian clans in Gaza to undermine Hamas control.
  • The transfers were authorized by the prime minister and security agencies without formal approval from Israel’s security cabinet.
  • The Abu Shabab militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab and active in Rafah and Khan Younis under IDF oversight, faces accusations of looting aid and links to Isis, which its leader denies.
  • Opposition leaders Yair Golan and Avigdor Lieberman cautioned that the strategy risks arming groups that could turn their weapons on Israeli forces.
  • Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, marked by displacement and shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies, is compounded by militia clashes and disrupted aid delivery.