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The National
6 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Abu Shabab back in spotlight as Israel's proxy in Gaza's war
As Israel's war with Iran is on hold, its main front has shifted back to Gaza, where it has started to work closely with the Abu Shabab gang. Analysts and Israeli media claim the group comprises murderers, drug dealers and former ISIS members. Gaza residents and human rights groups have accused the Yasser Abu Shabab Popular Forces of crimes from looting of aid to firing at, kidnapping and beating Palestinians who seek it. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed at aid distribution points by the US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) since its inception on May 27, including 93 by Israeli gunfire as they approached UN aid lorries, Thameen Al Kheetan, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement this week. Former Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel was arming a group of "criminals and felons" in Gaza. Mohammad Shehada, Gaza analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the Abu Shabab group is doing Israel's "dirty work". In exchange for keeping its members out of prison providing them with weapons, Israel wants the group to carry out reconnaissance and intelligence work, Mr Shehada said. "Before, they'd first send drones, then they'd send the sniffer dogs, then they'd send soldiers," he said. "Now they've changed the hierarchy by sending those gangs, and then the drones and then the dogs, and then the soldiers." Dozens of people seeking aid at GHF sites have gone missing, failing to return home, their families have reported to rights groups and authorities in Gaza. Prominent Palestinian investigative journalist Younis Tirawi has documented at least one instance of the Abu Shabab gang luring a civilian with the promise of aid before kidnapping and interrogating them. Anti-Hamas Following Mr Lieberman's claim, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move to support armed groups such as Abu Shabab aimed to "save the lives" of Israeli soldiers and oppose Hamas. The Abu Shabab gang is being presented as an alternative to Hamas, but Palestinian and Israeli experts say that is simply not possible. Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University's Moche Dayan Centre, said the gang could not match Hamas, whose influence is entrenched across Gaza. "They cannot be an alternative to Hamas all over the Strip because their influence is very limited to the eastern part of Rafah – they don't have an impact in Gaza city and Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, etc," Mr Milshtein told The National. Similarly, Mr Shehada highlighted the disparity in the number of members in Hamas and Abu Shabab that disproves any claim that it could stand up to Hamas. "Israel is trying to whitewash running those proxies by saying that they are creating them as rivals to Hamas, but that's not what's happening," he said. "They're no match and cannot overpower Hamas's 30,000 or 40,000 members." Abu Shabab maintains it protecting aid rather than looting it, although an article in The New York Times cited the group's leader, Yasser Abu Shabab admitting to stealing aid. "Yasser Abu Shabab cannot frame himself as the 'Robin Hood' of Gaza," Mr Milshtein said. The gang has a "problematic reputation" in Palestinian circles, which calls it "Jeish Lahd" – a reference to the Christian militia backed by Israel in southern Lebanon in the 1970s. In fact, the Israeli support, as well as the group's own damaging actions, could lend credibility to Hamas rather than weaken it, Mr Shehada argued. "It lends credence to Hamas as defenders of Gaza ... and as the only thing standing between them and total societal collapse." Mr Shehada has been analysing the group's members. "Virtually every name I've come across is either someone on the run from authorities for murder, collaborating with Israel, a drug dealer, or a member of ISIS." At least two Abu Shabab members are known to have been affiliated with ISIS, Israeli media has reported. One is Issam Nabahin, who Israeli news outlet Ynet claims launched attacks on the Egyptian army in Sinai as an ISIS member. He was jailed by Hamas in Gaza but was released with other detainees after the war started on October 7, 2023, over fears that Israel would bomb prisons. Laying siege The deputy leader of the Yasser Abu Shabab Popular Forces is Ghassan Al Dheini, the brother of alleged ISIS member Walid Al Dheini – who was killed by Hamas – and who was reportedly involved in the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006, Ynet reported. Israel's relationship with the gang began after Israel took over the southern area of Rafah in May 2024, occupying and laying siege to it, Mr Milshtein said. In internal memos, Mr Shehada said, the UN had identified Abu Shabab as stealing aid under Israeli military protection. More publicly, Jonathan Whittall, who heads the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Palestine, once again rejected claims by Israel that Hamas was diverting aid. "This doesn't hold up to scrutiny," he stressed last month. Instead, Mr Whittall explained the theft is being carried out by "criminal gangs, under the watch of Israeli forces", who were allowed to operate in proximity to the Karam Abu Salem border crossing, which leads into Rafah. Mr Shehada said Israel had allowed armed groups to loot aid, even while stationed in near its soldiers. 'This allows Israel to externalise blame and say that they're letting food in, that it is Hamas looting the aid and that the UN is not doing a good enough job to protect its own aid convoys.' This atmosphere of insecurity has provided a pretext for the founding of the US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), despite worldwide protest and condemnation of the move that sidelines the UN altogether. At distribution points operated by the GHF, Israeli army and private contractors, dozens of Palestinians have been killed or injured. Another Israeli outlet, i24, interviewed Mr Al Dheini after claiming the Israeli army had intervened in protecting Abu Shabab against Hamas in an incident on Monday. He said the group will continue to target Hamas as the 'only way to ensure the safety and security of people in the strip'. The gang aims to establish a 'government" in Gaza's south where it currently operates. "Israel has been trying since October 7 to create proxies in Gaza to carry out Israel's dirty tactics while giving Netanyahu plausible deniability for atrocities," Mr Shehada said. But they could find very few collaborators. After failing with tribal and community leaders, businesspeople and company owners, they resorted to people on the run from authorities for crimes that could send them to jail when the war ends. "So Netanyahu found a perfect match for himself. He and those gang leaders understand, if the war is over, they'll end up in prison for drug dealing, ISIS membership, murders, theft, etc."
Qatar Tribune
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Israeli forces kill over 410 during weeks of Gaza food aid chaos, says UN
dpa Geneva At least 410 people have been killed by Israeli forces since late May during the chaotic distribution of food by a new foundation in the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office said on Tuesday. 'Since the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation' started operating on 27 May, the Israeli military has shelled and shot Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points, leading to many fatalities,' said Thameen Al Kheetan in a news release issued in Geneva. 'Reportedly, over 410 Palestinians have been killed as a result,' he added. Al Kheetan stated that direct attacks by Israeli forces caused these deaths, and that the UN had verified nearly all of the cases. He noted that while there are also reports of armed groups operating near food distribution centres, the casualties referenced involved actions by Israeli troops. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the US, has been working in the Gaza Strip with the aim of forming an alternative to the UN and international aid organizations after an Israeli blockade on humanitarian assistance lasted almost three months. According to Al Kheetan, a further 93 people were killed by Israeli forces when they attempted to approach the few authorized United Nations convoys. A total of around 3,000 Palestinians were injured. Israel is violating international law by blocking UN convoys for the starving population, the spokesman said. Denying civilians vital aid is a war crime, he added. 'Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism is in contradiction with international standards on aid distribution,' Al Kheetan said, adding that 'it endangers civilians, and contributes to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.' Following the announcement of a ceasefire with Iran, relatives of Israeli hostages demanded on Tuesday an immediate halt to the war in Gaza. 'We call on the government to engage in urgent negotiations that will bring home all the hostages and end the war,' the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Observer
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Observer
Strike on Tehran's prison represents breach of international law, says UN
TEHRAN: An air strike on Iran's Evin Prison containing political Prisoners on Monday represents a grave violation of international humanitarian law, the UN human rights office said. "Evin Prison is not a military objective, and targeting it constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law," UN human rights spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday, without naming Israel. He said that his office has received reports of fires inside the facility and an unspecified number of injuries. Iran's prison authority has transferred prisoners out of Evin prison after it was hit by Israeli strikes, the judiciary said on Tuesday. The prison authority "transferred the inmates who were serving their sentences in this prison (Evin) to other facilities within Tehran province... to safeguard the rights of the prisoners and to provide space for emergency response teams," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said. Emergency personnel work amid debris at an impacted residential site, in Be'er Sheva. — Reuters Iranian media reported that the process of transferring the prisoners had been completed, but did not specify how many inmates were moved. Media also reported that authorities on Tuesday defused two unexploded missiles that landed near the prison during an Israeli strike the day before. "Two unexploded missiles that had been fired yesterday and landed in the vicinity of Evin prison were defused and safely transferred to a secure location," Tasnim news agency reported, citing a police spokesman. Earlier, judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said multiple people were killed and wounded in the strike on the prison on Monday, state TV reported. "Due to this destruction, a number of our fellow citizens, including administrative and judicial staff, visiting civilians, family members of inmates and the inmates themselves, were injured, and we have had martyrs in this incident," he said. The strike destroyed part of the administrative building at Evin, a large, heavily fortified complex in the north of Tehran, which rights groups say holds political prisoners and foreign nationals. — Agencies
Asharq Al-Awsat
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Strike on Iran Prison Represents Breach of International Law, UN Rights Office Says
An airstrike on Iran's Evin prison containing political prisoners on Monday represents a grave violation of international humanitarian law, the UN human rights office said. "Evin prison is not a military objective, and targeting it constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law," UN human rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday, without naming Israel. He said that his office has received reports of fires inside the facility and an unspecified number of injuries.
Arab News
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
UN condemns ‘weaponization of food' in Gaza
GENEVA: The United Nations on Tuesday condemned Israel's apparent 'weaponization of food' in Gaza, a war crime, and urged Israel's military to 'stop shooting at people trying to get food.' 'Israel's militarised humanitarian assistance mechanism is in contradiction with international standards on aid distribution,' the UN human rights office said in written notes provided before a briefing. 'Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food.' The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began food distribution operations in Gaza on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into the occupied Palestinian territory for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine. The UN said in May that '100 percent of the population' of the besieged territory were ' at risk of famine.' The UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF — an officially private effort with opaque funding — over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. UN rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan warned in the briefing notes of 'scenes of chaos around the food distribution points' of the GHF. Since the organization began operating, 'the Israeli military has shelled and shot Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points, leading to many fatalities,' he said. He pointed to reports that 'over 410 Palestinians have been killed as a result, (while) at least 93 others have also been reportedly killed by the Israeli army while attempting to approach the very few aid convoys of the UN and other humanitarian organizations.' 'At least 3,000 Palestinians have been injured in these incidents,' he said. 'Each of these killings must be promptly and impartially investigated, and those responsible must be held to account.' Kheetan cautioned that the system 'endangers civilians and contributes to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.' 'The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime, and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law,' he warned. The UN rights office demanded immediate action to rectify the situation. 'The Israeli military must stop shooting at people trying to get food,' Kheetan said, also demanding that Israel 'allow the entry of food and other humanitarian assistance needed to sustain the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.' 'It must immediately lift its unlawful restrictions on the work of UN and other humanitarian actors,' he said. And he called on other countries to 'take concrete steps to ensure that Israel — the occupying power in Gaza — complies with its duty to ensure that sufficient food and lifesaving necessities are provided to the population.'
