AhlulBayt News Agency: Israel has reportedly partnered with the Daesh-linked Abu Shabab group in Gaza to prevent humanitarian aid from entering the territory and counter the Islamic resistance movement.
Former Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman stated on Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorized the arming of criminal and ISIS-linked gangs in Gaza.
“Under the prime minister’s orders, Israel is supplying weapons to criminals affiliated with Daesh, as a counterbalance to Hamas,” Lieberman revealed.
He further claimed that the decision was not approved by the cabinet, and he was uncertain whether the IDF chief of staff was aware of it.
In response, Netanyahu’s office stated, “Israel is working to defeat Hamas in various ways, based on recommendations from all heads of the security establishment.”
Hamas condemned the revelation, stating that Lieberman’s remarks expose a dangerous truth—that Israel is arming criminal gangs in Gaza to create security and social chaos, advancing its systematic starvation and theft of humanitarian aid.
The Abu Shabab group, referenced by Lieberman, has deployed 200 armed criminals in Rafah, frequently looting aid convoys, particularly in eastern Rafah and Karem Abu Salem.
The area, known as a “death zone,” remains inaccessible to Gaza residents.
A senior official in Gaza told Haaretz, “I saw one Israeli tank, and a Palestinian armed with a Kalashnikov just 100 meters away, raiding aid convoys entering through Karem Abu Salem.”
“The armed men beat the drivers and seize all the food unless they receive protection money,” the official added.
Yasser Abu Shabab, a known drug smuggler, has established a fortified base in an Israeli-controlled zone in Rafah, reportedly under Israeli guidance.
He belongs to the Tarabin Bedouin tribe, which spans Sinai, southern Gaza, and the Negev Desert, and has been identified in a UN memo as “the main influential figure behind the widespread and organized looting” of aid convoys to Gaza.
Last year, The New Arab reported that Abu Shabab, along with hundreds of thieves, was operating under Israeli protection near the Karem Abu Salem crossing, the primary entry point for aid convoys.
Last week, Palestinian resistance fighters released videos showing Yasser Abu Shabab’s forces working alongside Israeli undercover units, targeting Palestinians in Rafah.
Growing evidence of the group’s role in Israel’s war in Gaza led elders and leaders of the Abu Shabab family to publicly disavow the group.
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