Newly revealed cooperation between Israel and a Gazan Bedouin-led militia exposes covert efforts to secure Rafah and combat Hamas.
New details that were published on Thursday afternoon reveal the widespread cooperation between Israel and a local armed militia in the Gaza Strip, led by Yaser Abu Shabab, a Bedouin Gazan who is unaffiliated with Hamas.
The militia operates in Rafah and helps in the fight against Hamas and defends aid convoys.
The cooperation, which was prohibited from publication by the censors, was revealed by Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman. “The Israeli government is sending weapons to a group of criminals and offenders who identify with ISIS, at the instruction of the Prime Minister,” he claimed in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet.
Defense officials confirmed that Israel transferred weapons to the militias, some of which were seized from Hamas during the war. Among other weapons, the militias received Kalashnikov rifles. As noted, the militias operate in Rafah, an area that was seized and cleared out by IDF forces.
Among the tasks assigned to Abu Shabab’s men: securing humanitarian aid convoys entering the Gaza Strip and fighting the remaining Hamas forces in the area.
Hamas arrested Abu Shabab before the war on charges of theft and drug trafficking. He managed to escape prison after Hamas’s internal security headquarters were struck from the air.
The security initiative was formulated by the Shin Bet, IDF, and other bodies and was approved by the political echelon. According to the sources, such a decision does not need cabinet approval.
Abu Shabab’s militia is currently the only one cooperating with Israel. No other Gazan forces are participating in similar initiatives.
Palestinian Arab media are reporting that the group is operating in the open under Israeli support. Hamas has already “declared war” on the militias and even published a video of an explosive device that was activated against its members in Rafah.
The operation was discussed in a face-to-face meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and outgoing Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar. The Prime Minister, Defense Minister, Shin Bet Director, and the IDF Chief of Staff were privy to the operation.
Abu Shabab’s men have in the past fought ISIS-linked terrorists in the Sinai.
