Israel backs an anti-Hamas armed group known for looting aid in Gaza. Here's what we know
One self-styled militia, which calls itself the Popular Forces, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, says it is guarding newly created, Israeli-backed food distribution centres in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting UN trucks.
Gaza's armed groups have ties to powerful clans or extended families and often operate as criminal gangs. Aid workers allege Israel's backing of the groups is part of a wider effort to control all aid operations in the strip.
Israel denies allowing looters to operate in areas it controls.
Here's what we know about anti-Hamas armed groups in Gaza:
Who are these groups?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a social media video Thursday that Israel had 'activated' clans in Gaza to oppose Hamas.
He didn't elaborate how Israel is supporting them or what role Israel wants them to play. Netanyahu's comments were in response to a political opponent accusing him of arming 'crime families' in Gaza.
Clans, tribes and extended families have strong influence in Gaza, where their leaders often help mediate disputes. Some have long been armed to protect their group's interests, and some have morphed into gangs involved in smuggling drugs or running protection rackets.
After seizing power in 2007, Hamas clamped down on Gaza's gangs -- sometimes with brute force and sometimes by steering perks their way.
But with Hamas' weakening power after 20 months of war with Israel, gangs have regained freedom to act. The leadership of a number of clans — including the clan from which the Abu Shabab group's members hail — have issued statements denouncing looting and cooperation with Israel.
A self-proclaimed 'nationalist force'
Besides the Abu Shabab group, it is not known how many armed groups Israel is supporting.
The Abu Shabab group went public in early May, declaring itself a 'nationalist force.' It said it was protecting aid, including around the food distribution hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a mainly American private contractor that Israel intends to replace the UN-led aid network. Aid workers and Palestinians who know the group estimate it has several hundred fighters.
The Abu Shabab group's media office told The Associated Press it was collaborating with GHF 'to ensure that the food and medicine reaches its beneficiaries.' It said it was not involved in distribution, but that its fighters secured the surroundings of distribution centres run by GHF inside military-controlled zones in the Rafah area.
A spokesperson with GHF said it had 'no collaboration' with Abu Shabab.
'We do have local Palestinian workers we are very proud of, but none is armed, and they do not belong to Abu Shabab's organization,' the spokesperson said, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with the group's rules.
Before the war, Yasser Abu Shabab was involved in smuggling cigarettes and drugs from Egypt and Israel into Gaza through crossings and tunnels, according to two members of his extended family, one of whom was once part of his group. Hamas arrested Abu Shabab but freed him from prison along with most other inmates when the war began in October 2023, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Abu Shabab's media office said he was summoned by police before the war but wasn't officially accused or tried. It also said claims the group was involved in attacking aid trucks were 'exaggerated,' saying its fighters 'took the minimum amount of food and water necessary.'
Aid workers say it is notorious for looting
The head of the association in Gaza that provides trucks and drivers for aid groups said their members' vehicles have been attacked many times by Abu Shabab's fighters.
Nahed Sheheiber said the group has been active in Israeli-controlled eastern parts of Rafah and Khan Younis, targeting trucks as they enter Gaza from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. Troops nearby 'did nothing' to stop attacks, he said.
Sheheiber said that when Hamas policemen have tried to confront gangs or guard truck convoys, they were attacked by Israeli troops.
One driver, Issam Abu Awda, told the AP he was attacked by Abu Shabab fighters last July. The fighters stopped his truck, blindfolded and handcuffed him and his assistant, then loaded the supplies off the vehicle, he said. Abu Awda said nearby Israeli troops didn't intervene.
These kinds of attacks are still happening and highlight 'a disturbing pattern,' according to Jonathan Whittall, from the UN humanitarian coordinator, OCHA.
'Those who have blocked and violently ransacked aid trucks seem to have been protected' by Israeli forces, said Whittall, head of OCHA's office for the occupied Palestinian territories. And, he added, they have now become the 'protectors of the goods being distributed through Israel's new militarized hubs,' referring to the GHF-run sites.
The Israeli military did not reply when asked for comment on allegations it has allowed armed groups to loot trucks. But the Israeli prime minister's office called the accusations 'fake news,' saying, 'Israel didn't allow looters to operate in Israeli controlled areas.'
Israel often accuses Hamas of stealing from trucks.
What does all this have to do with aid?
Muhammad Shehada, a political analyst from Gaza who is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said he doesn't believe Israel's support for armed groups is aimed at directly fighting Hamas. So far there has been no attempt to deploy the groups against the militants.
Instead, he said, Israel is using the gangs and the looting to present GHF 'as the only alternative to provide food to Palestinians,' since its supplies get in while the UN's don't.
Israel wants the GHF to replace the UN-led aid system because it claims Hamas has been siphoning off large amounts of supplies. The UN denies that significant amounts have been taken by Hamas. Israel has also said it aims to move all Palestinians in Gaza to a 'sterile zone' in the south, around the food hubs, while it fights Hamas elsewhere.
The UN and aid groups have rejected that as using food as a tool for forced displacement. The Abu Shabab group has issued videos online urging Palestinians to move to tent camps in Rafah.
Israel barred all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for 2 1/2 months , pending the start of GHF – a blockade that has brought the population to the brink of famine. GHF started distributing food boxes on May 26 at three hubs guarded by private contractors inside Israeli military zones.
Israel has let in some trucks of aid for the UN to distribute. But the UN says it has been able to get little of it into the hands of Palestinians because of Israeli military restrictions, including requiring its trucks to use roads where looters are known to operate.
'It's Israel's way of telling the UN, if you want to try to bring aid into Gaza, good luck with this,' said Shehada. 'We will force you to go through a road where everything you brought will be looted.'
Magdy and Keath reported from Cairo
Julia Frankel, Sam Mednick, Samy Magdy And Lee Keath, The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Deadly violence in Syria could reshape domestic and regional alliances
Bedouin fighters stand on a pickup truck as they arrive at al-Dour village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed) BEIRUT — An eruption of violence in Syria this week that entangled government forces, Bedouin tribes, the Druze religious minority and neighboring Israel highlighted just how combustible the country remains seven months after its longtime authoritarian leader was toppled. The Druze and other minorities increasingly mistrust a central government run by a man once affiliated with al-Qaida, even though he has pledged to protect Syria's diverse ethnic and religious groups since helping to oust Bashar Assad after a nearly 14-year civil war. This sectarian turbulence within Syria threatens to shake-up postwar alliances and exacerbate regional tensions, experts say. It could also potentially draw the country closer to Turkey and away from Israel, with whom it has been quietly engaging since Assad's fall, with encouragement from the Trump administration. The spark for this week's violence Deadly clashes broke out last Sunday in the southern province of Sweida between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes. Government forces intervened, ostensibly to restore order, but ended up trying to wrest control of Sweida from the Druze factions that control it. Hundreds were killed in the fighting, and some government fighters allegedly executed Druze civilians and burned and looted their houses. Driven by concerns about security and domestic politics, Israel intervened on behalf of the Druze, who are seen as a loyal minority within Israel and often serve in its military. Israeli warplanes bombarded the Syrian defence Ministry's headquarters in central Damascus and struck near the presidential palace. It was an apparent warning to the country's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led Islamist rebels that overthrew Assad but has since preached coexistence and sought ties with with the West. The Israeli army also struck government forces in Sweida. By Wednesday, a truce had been mediated that allowed Druze factions and clerics to maintain security in Sweida as government forces pulled out — although fighting persisted between Druze and Bedouin forces. Early Saturday, U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack announced a separate ceasefire had been brokered between Israel and Syria. Worsening ties with minorities This past week's clashes aren't the first instance of sectarian violence in Syria since the fall of Assad. A few months after Assad fled and after a transition that initially was mostly peaceful, government forces and pro-Assad armed groups clashed on Syria's coast. That spurred sectarian attacks that killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority to which Assad belongs. Those killings left other minority groups, including the Druze in the south, and the Kurds in the northeast – who have a de facto autonomous area under their control -- wary that the country's new leaders would protect them. Violence is only part of the problem. Syria's minority groups only have been given what many see as token representation in the interim government, according to Bassam Alahmad, executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice, a civil society organization. 'It's a transitional period. We should have a dialogue, and they (the minorities) should feel that they're a real part of the state,' Alahmad said. Instead, with the incursion into Sweida, the new authorities have sent a message that they would use military force to 'control every part of Syria,' he said. 'Bashar Assad tried this way,' and it failed, he added. On the other hand, supporters of the new government fear that its decision to back down in Sweida could signal to other minorities that it's OK to demand their own autonomous regions, which would fragment and weaken the country. If Damascus cedes security control of Sweida to the Druze, 'of course everyone else is going to demand the same thing,' said Abdel Hakim al-Masri, a former official in the Turkish-backed regional government in Syria's northwest before Assad's fall. 'This is what we are afraid of,' he said. A rapprochement with Israel may be derailed Before this week's flare-up between Israel and Syria, and despite a long history of suspicion between the two countries, the Trump administration had been pushing their leaders to post-Assad to work toward normalizing relations – meaning that Syria would formally recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations, or at least enter into some limited agreement on security matters. Syrian officials have acknowledged holding indirect talks with Israel, but defusing decades of tension was never going to be easy. After Assad's fall, Israeli forces seized control of a UN-patrolled buffer zone in Syria and carried out airstrikes on military sites in what Israeli officials said was a move to create a demilitarized zone south of Damascus. Dareen Khalifa, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, said she believes Israel could have gotten the same result through negotiations. But now it's unlikely Syria will be willing to continue down the path of reconciliation with Israel, at least in the short term, she said. 'I don't know how the Israelis could expect to drop bombs on Damascus and still have some kind of normal dialogue with the Syrians,' said Colin Clarke, a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a New York-based organization that focuses on global security challenges. 'Just like Netanyahu, al-Sharaa's got a domestic constituency that he's got to answer to.' Yet even after the events of this past week, the Trump administration still seems to have hope of keeping the talks alive. U.S. officials are 'engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a lasting agreement between two sovereign states,' says Dorothy Shea, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Shea said during a UN Security Council emergency meeting on Thursday that 'the United States did not support recent Israeli strikes.' Syria could be drawn closer to Turkey During Syria's civil war, the U.S. was allied with Kurdish forces in the country's northeast in their fight against the Islamic State militant group. But since Assad's fall, the U.S. has begun gradually pulling its forces out of Syria and has encouraged the Kurds to integrate their forces with those of the new authorities in Damascus. To that end, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed in March to a landmark deal that would merge them with the national army. But implementation has stalled. A major sticking point has been whether the SDF would remain as a cohesive unit in the new army or be dissolved completely. Khalifa said the conflict in Sweida is 'definitely going to complicate' those talks. Not only are the Kurds mistrustful of government forces after their attacks on Alawite and Druze minorities, but now they also view them as looking weak. 'Let's be frank, the government came out of this looking defeated,' Khalifa said. It's possible that the Kurds, like the Druze, might look to Israel for support, but Turkey is unlikely to stand by idly if they do, Khalifa said. The Turkish government considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey. For that reason, it has long wanted to curtail the group's influence just across its border. Israel's latest military foray in Syria could give its new leaders an incentive to draw closer to Ankara, according to Clarke. That could include pursuing a defence pact that has been discussed but not implemented. Turkish defence ministry officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity according to procedures, said that if requested, Ankara is ready to assist Syria in strengthening its defence capabilities. Abby Sewell, The Associated Press Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this report.
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Syria urges all parties to respect ceasefire in Druze region after hundreds left dead
Social Sharing Syria's Islamist-led government said its security forces were deploying in the predominantly Druze southern city of Sweida on Saturday, and urged all parties to respect a ceasefire after days of factional bloodshed that has left hundreds dead. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in a separate speech, said "Arab and American" mediation had helped bring calm, and criticized Israel for airstrikes against Syrian government forces in the south and Damascus this week. Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence, which began with clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, before Damascus sent in government security forces. Israel has carried out airstrikes in southern Syria and on the Defence Ministry in Damascus, saying it is protecting the Druze minority, of whom there are a significant number in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. WATCH | Israeli strike on Syrian defence building captured on live TV this week: Israeli strike on Syrian defence building captured on live TV 2 days ago A TV news anchor in Syria was on air when an Israeli strike hit the Ministry of Defence in Damascus on Wednesday, badly damaging the building near the presidential palace. In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, and urged all parties to end hostilities immediately. The Interior Ministry said internal security forces had begun deploying in Sweida. Sharaa called for calm and said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession or sectarian incitement." "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighbours. Barrack, who is both U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Washington's Syria envoy, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons "and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity." Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities and weaponry in the seven months since Sharaa's forces toppled President Bashar al-Assad, and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarized.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Globe and Mail
Syrian interim president urges Bedouin tribes commit to a ceasefire ending hostilities with the Druze
Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa urged Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes Saturday to 'fully commit' to a ceasefire aimed at ending clashes with Druze-linked militias that left hundreds dead and threatened to unravel the country's post-war transition. This comes as government forces, initially deployed to restore order but effectively sided with the Bedouins against the Druze, were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted late Thursday. The violence has also drawn airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel before a truce was reached. In his second televised address since the fighting started, al-Sharaa blamed 'armed groups from Sweida' for reigniting the conflict by 'launching retaliatory attacks against the Bedouins and their families.' He also said Israeli intervention 'pushed the country into a dangerous phase.' Israel had launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even struck the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus, saying it was in support of the Druze, who form a substantial community in Israel and are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the Israeli military. Reports had surfaced of Syrian government-affiliated fighters executing Druze civilians and looting and burning homes over the four-day violence. U.S. Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack announced that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire early Saturday, but al-Sharaa made no direct reference to the agreement in his speech, but said 'American and Arab mediations stepped in' to restore calm. Addressing the Bedouins, al-Sharaa said they 'cannot replace the role of the state in handling the country's affairs and restoring security.' He also said: 'We thank the Bedouins for their heroic stances but demand they fully commit to the ceasefire and comply with the state's orders.' Meanwhile, a prominent Druze leader, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, who opposes the current government and has distanced himself from the two ceasefires announced on Tuesday and Wednesday, said an agreement, brokered under the sponsorship of guarantor states, has several measures aimed at de-escalating tensions in Suweida. Syria's interim president urges Bedouin tribes to commit to ceasefire ending clashes with the Druze This includes the deployment of General Security checkpoints outside the province's administrative borders to contain clashes and prevent infiltration, a 48-hour ban on entry by any party into border villages and safe, guaranteed passage for remaining members of the Bedouin tribes still inside the province. Sharaa reiterated that Suweida 'remains an integral part of the Syrian state, and the Druze constitute a fundamental pillar of the Syrian national fabric,' vowing to protect all minorities in Syria. He also thanked the United States for its 'significant role in affirming its support for Syria during these difficult times,' as well as Arab countries and Turkey, who mediated Wednesday's truce. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.
