In an effort to prevent humanitarian aid from entering Gaza and fight the Islamic resistance movement, Israel has reportedly partnered with the Daesh-linked “Abu Shabab” group based in Gaza.
Former Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday that the regime has armed “criminal and ISIS-linked gangs” in the Gaza Strip on Netanyahu’s orders.
“Under the prime minister’s orders, Israel is transferring weapons to criminals in Gaza who are affiliated with the Daesh terrorist group, as a counterbalance to Hamas,” Lieberman said.
“As far as I can tell, this wasn’t approved by the cabinet, and I’m not sure the IDF chief of staff even knows about it.”
In response, Netanyahu’s office said, “Israel is working to defeat Hamas in various ways, on the recommendation of all heads of the security establishment.”
The group Lieberman was addressing in his remarks was Abu Shabab. It has currently deployed 200 armed criminals in the Rafah area, routinely engaging in looting aid convoys, especially in areas like eastern Rafah and Karem Abu Salem.
The mentioned area, also referred to as a “death zone,” is inaccessible to Gaza residents.
“I saw one Israeli tank, and a Palestinian armed with a Kalashnikov [rifle] just 100 meters [about 328 feet] from it,” a senior official in Gaza told Haaretz, pointing to the armed gangs raiding aid convoys entering through Karem Abu Salem.
“The armed men beat the drivers and take all the food if they aren’t paid [protection money].”
Yasser Abu Shabab also has a known history of drug smuggling and has established a fortified base in an Israeli-controlled zone in Rafah under the regime’s guidance.
He comes from the Tarabin Bedouin tribe, which spans from Sinai to southern Gaza and the Negev Desert, and has been identified in an internal 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, among others, was working alongside hundreds of thieves under the protection of Israeli forces near the Karem Abu Salem crossing, the primary entry point for aid convoys.
Last week, Palestinian resistance fighters revealed the group’s involvement in Israeli covert operations by releasing videos showing the Yasser Abu Shabab forces working alongside Israeli undercover units targeting Palestinians in Rafah.
Growing evidence of the group’s role in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza led elders and leaders of the prominent Abu Shabab family in Gaza to announce their disavowal of the group.
