Israel 'operated clans' in Gaza, Netanyahu says, after being accused of arming Palestinian militias
CBC
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has "operated clans" in Gaza in a video published on social media Thursday after an opposition leader accused him of arming Palestinian militias in order to bolster opposition to Hamas.
When asked about the allegations made by Avigdor Lieberman, leader of one of the opposition parties in the Knesset and a former defence minister, and whether he made them for political gain, Netanyahu said:.
"What did Lieberman leak? ... That with the advice of security forces, we have operated clans in Gaza who oppose Hamas. What's wrong with that? It is only good. It only saves IDF soldiers' lives."
In the video posted on his Facebook and X accounts, Netanyahu said releasing details of Israel's actions is "benefiting only Hamas," according to a translation of the original Hebrew from Reuters.
In the wake of Lieberman's comments, The Times of Israel reported that Israel had transferred weapons to Yasser Abu Shabab, a leader of a large clan in the Rafah area that is among those accused of looting humanitarian aid. Rafah is now under full Israeli army control. The report cited a defence source.
The New York Times reported similar details citing two Israeli officials close to the matter who told the paper that Israeli authorities had provided "support, including weapons, to Yasser Abu Shabab."
A few hours after Netanyahu's video was posted on social media, Abu Shabab posted a statement on Facebook in which he claimed Israeli media reports were false and denied that he received weapons from Israel.
"We categorically reject these accusations and consider them a blatant attempt to distort the image of a grassroots force born from suffering—one that stood up to injustice, looting, and corruption," the statement read.
It went on to say that the weapons his group does use are from the "support of our own people." Abu Shabab said his clan would never be "a tool of the occupation" and called on Israel to present evidence to Palestinian people and the media.
Abu Shabab previously said that he was building up a force to secure aid deliveries into some parts of Gaza.
Meanwhile, aid distribution in Gaza was halted on Friday after the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations in the latest disruption to its troubled relief effort.
With severe food shortages plaguing the coastal enclave, fighting continued in many areas of the Gaza Strip.
Local health authorities said 16 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes, mostly in northern Gaza, while the Israeli army said four of its soldiers were killed and five were wounded by an explosion in a building in Khan Younis to the south.
In a day of confusing messaging, the GHF first announced its distribution sites in southern Gaza were closed then it revealed that it had actually handed out food, before saying that it had had to close its gates as a precautionary measure.
Both sides of the miserable war in Gaza are dragging their feet on moving on to the next crucial phase of the ceasefire, leaving Palestinians in the territory to deal with the muck and sometimes deadly cold of winter with few reasons to hope that meaningful progress will come soon.
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