Report
Israel is arming jihadists in Gaza: ‘What’s wrong with that?’ Netanyahu says
When asked, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted everything. After all, Israel deems every means legitimate – even starving an entire population or bombing tents and hospitals.
Israel is arming a local militia in Gaza made up of common criminals and pro-ISIS jihadists, as denounced by former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman last Thursday on the public broadcaster Kan Bet. He spoke of “one hundred, perhaps two hundred men” led by Yasser Abu Shabab, supported with the goal of undercutting Hamas.
“Israel supplied assault rifles and light arms to crime families in Gaza, on Netanyahu’s orders … I doubt this ever went through the security cabinet. No one can guarantee those weapons won’t end up turned on Israel,” Lieberman added. According to the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu (secular ultranationalist) party, Netanyahu is using these militias to weaken Hamas, much like past Israeli governments boosted Hamas to weaken the Palestinian Authority. Quds News notes that Abu Shabab is notorious for his ties to extremist groups and criminal activities, including drug trafficking. He has long been known to be a collaborator with Israel.
His gunmen have admitted looting UN food aid and operate inside an area the Israeli army controls outright. Videos posted by Abu Shabab show fighters pitching tents and unloading food parcels. Haaretz, using Planet Labs satellite imagery, geolocated the camp (where 16 tents are visible in the videos) east of Rafah, between the Philadelphi Corridor and the Morag axis, five kilometers north of Kerem Shalom. Israeli troops are occupying the whole Strip. Other clips spread during the previous weeks show the militiamen inspecting Red Cross ambulances and UN convoys.
When asked, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted everything: “On the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What’s wrong with that?” After all, Israel deems every means legitimate – even starving an entire population or bombing tents and hospitals.
On Thursday, for the eighth time since October 7, 2023, the army struck Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City. Three Palestinian journalists – Suleiman Hajjaj, Ismail Badah and Samir Al-Rifai – were killed, a fourth seriously wounded, and dozens more people injured. The hospital director vowed that they would not shut down: “We have no other choice … we are the only hospital in the northern part.” Suleiman’s grieving mother recounted that at first, nobody had dared tell her that her son was gone: “He was a kind and good person all his life. My son is a journalist and I am proud of him.”
The Israeli army, as always, claimed it had hit an “operational center” and killed one Islamic Jihad member, left unnamed. Israeli attacks killed 70 people and injured 189 in 24 hours.
Air strikes have intensified, while the blockade on humanitarian aid is leading to growing hunger. With no clean water and the arrival of summer heat, the health crisis is getting extremely dangerous. Without drugs, even routine illnesses become deadly.
At times it is impossible to count the dead. Civil-defense teams have few vehicles, and without fuel they cannot pick up the wounded and the dead, who are left lying in the streets or under the rubble. The few truck deliveries managed by the Israeli-American Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) have been halted for two days. On Thursday morning, the GHF said it would stay closed through the day for “maintenance and repair.” The army warned civilians not to approach the compounds, declaring them a military zone.
Unexpectedly, on Thursday evening the foundation boasted that it had distributed no less than 1.4 million meals “without incident.” However, in an investigation, CNN analyzed footage and testimonies about massacres of Palestinians around the GHF distribution centers. The broadcaster concluded that the sound of the gunfire, as well as the bullets recovered at the scene, were consistent with the weapons used by the Israeli army. The geolocation of the videos also confirms the statements of witnesses who accused the Israeli military of firing on the crowd. The United States and Israel continue to defend the work of the GHF, and the strong unity of purpose between Washington and Tel Aviv was on display once again during Wednesday's UN Security Council vote: the U.S. vetoed the resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Meanwhile, DNA tests confirmed that two bodies recovered in Gaza belonged to Israeli-American hostages Gadi Haggai, 73, and Judy Weinstein-Haggai, 70, killed on October 7, 2023.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/israele-arma-i-jihadisti-bibi-che-male-ce on 2025-06-06