At the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the State of Israel is arming an ISIS-aligned Jihadist gang in Gaza, unnamed Israeli defense officials confirmed to the Times of Israel on Thursday. While refraining from validating that particular characterization of the weapon recipients, Netanyahu confirmed that Israel is "activating clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas." Significantly, the prime minister is accused of green-lighting the weapon handovers without securing his cabinet's permission.
News of Netanyahu's latest provision of aid to Sunni extremists in the Middle East first came via remarks made by opposition Knesset member and former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman in a Thursday morning interview with Kan Bet public radio. “The Israeli government is giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons, identified with Islamic State, at the direction of the prime minister...Ultimately, these weapons will be turned against us."
It wouldn't be the first time Netanyahu opportunistically bolstered Gaza extremists only to have them murderously lash out at Israelis. Indeed, following in the steps of his predecessors, Netanyahu boosted Hamas itself in a calculated effort to ensure Israel had no united, moderate counterparties available to negotiate a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. “Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas,” Netanyahu told a meeting of Likud Party members of parliament in 2019. “This is part of our strategy — to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.”
In 2016, an earlier Netanyahu government provided medical treatment to a Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda. At the time, former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy brushed aside an interviewer's astonishment that Israel would aid an enemy of the United States: “We have a different account with Hezbollah. A totally different account. Al Qaeda, to the best of my recollection, has not attacked Israel.”
Netanyahu's latest favorite band of rogues is the Abu Shabab clan, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, who has reportedly been twice-imprisoned in Hamas-run jails for criminal offenses. "[They] are in essence lawless criminals who in recent years wanted to give themselves an ideological angle or spin, so they became Salafi [jihadists] and began identifying with ISIS," Lieberman said.
Varying described as a militia or a criminal gang, the Abu Shabab clan has been widely accused of looting humanitarian aid to the devastated Gaza population. In 2024, Abu Shabab didn't deny the allegations, instead lamely claiming his group tried not to steal supplies meant for children. That entry on Shabab's rap sheet makes Netanyahu's support for the clan rather hypocritical, as he's often condemned Hamas for allegedly stealing aid. "Hamas is coming at gunpoint and stealing the food," he said. "Humanitarian deaths and starvation is, for us, it’s a tragedy. For them, it’s a strategy." On the other hand, the Shabab clan meets the only qualification that seems to matter to Netanyahu: An interest in seeing Hamas dislodged from power in Gaza.
In late May, Hamas posted a video showing an operation in which its militant blew up a group of armed men that observers concluded to be members of the Shabab clan. Hamas said the targeted group was collaborating directly with the IDF by inspecting buildings in Gaza before Israeli soldiers took them over:
Following Lieberman's comments, the prime minister's office issued a statement saying "Israel is working to defeat Hamas in various ways, on the recommendation of all heads of the security establishment." On Thursday afternoon, defense officials confirmed to the Times of Israel that Netanyahu's government is shipping Kalashnikov rifles to the jihadists. Compounding the controversy, the sources say Netanyahu initiated the weapon transfers without receiving approval from his cabinet.
Shabab's gang has been documented in recent days operating in an area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing under Israeli military control. In the footage, which was published online by Abu Shabab, members of the group can be seen wearing military-style uniforms with the Palestinian flag and the words “Counter-Terrorism Mechanism” emblazoned on them. -- Times of Israel
Yair Golan, who leads the opposition Democrats party, condemned Netanyahu's decision to arm yet another dangerous set of militants: "Netanyahu, who transferred billions to Hamas in suitcases of cash out of the mistaken concept that Hamas is an 'asset,' is now promoting a new dangerous concept: arming a Gazan militia with ties to ISIS."
According to the ancient proverb, "The friend of your enemy is your enemy." If you're an American citizen, what does that make Netanyahu?
