Israeli lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman alleged Netanyahu is now supporting a new militia to counter Hamas. Sources told Haaretz last week that an armed group tied to Yasser Abu Shabab has recently begun operating in southern Gaza.
Israel is providing weapons to a Jihadist group in the Gaza Strip affiliated with ISIS, Opposition lawmaker and former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday.
Responding to the allegations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that "Israel is working to defeat Hamas in various ways, on the recommendation of all heads of the security establishment."
In an interview with Kan Bet public radio, Lieberman said that, similar to how Netanyahu propped up Hamas as a counterweight to the PA, he is now helping establish a new armed force as a counterweight to Hamas.
Last week, two sources told Haaretz that a new militia had recently begun operating in the southern Gaza Strip, saying it is linked to a man identifying himself as Yasser Abu Shabab.
Videos circulating on social media in recent days appear to support the claim, showing armed Palestinians in Gaza wearing standard military gear, including vests, helmets and insignia such as the Palestinian flag and a patch labeled "Anti-Terror Service" in both English and Arabic.
Abu Shabab, a member of a large Bedouin family in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, is known as a powerful and well-connected figure in the Gaza Strip. According to sources who spoke with Haaretz, he previously served prison sentences in Hamas-run jails for criminal offenses.
At the end of last year, amid a surge in looting of humanitarian aid in southern Gaza, Abu Shabab and his men were widely accused of being behind the theft.
In a November 2024 phone interview with The Washington Post, Abu Shabab did not fully deny the allegations, saying that his group avoided taking food, tents or supplies intended for children.
"The Hamasha clan 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," the lawmaker said.
Israel is providing this clan with light weapons and assault rifles, Lieberman alleged, adding that, "Ultimately, these weapons will be turned against us."