Israel Secretly Arming Gaza Jihadists to Undermine Hamas, Defense Sources Confirm

Israel has been supplying weapons to a Gaza-based jihadist gang in an effort to weaken Hamas’s grip on the territory, defense officials confirmed Thursday following public accusations by Yisrael Beytaynu head Avigdor Liberman.

Liberman claimed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu authorized the transfer of arms to the Abu Shabab clan, a jihadist group in Gaza opposed to Hamas with ties to ISIS, without securing cabinet approval. “The Israeli government is giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons, identified with Islamic State, at the direction of the prime minister,” Liberman charged. “To my knowledge, this did not go through approval by the cabinet.”

He added that while Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was informed of the decision, he was unsure of how much the IDF chief of staff knew about the operation.

The Abu Shabab group, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, has been described both as a jihadist militia and a criminal organization. The group has recently been seen operating near the Kerem Shalom border crossing, an area under Israeli military control.

Videos shared by the gang show its members in military-style uniforms bearing the Palestinian flag and the words “Counter-Terrorism Mechanism.”

In response to Liberman’s accusations, the Prime Minister’s Office did not directly deny the weapons transfer, instead saying that Israel is “working to defeat Hamas through various means, based on the recommendations of all the heads of the security establishment.”

Defense officials later confirmed the details of the operation with the Times of Israel, speaking anonymously. The Israeli military censor approved the publication of the information.

The officials said that Israel has provided the group with Kalashnikov rifles, including some seized from Hamas during the current conflict. The move, they said, was orchestrated by Israeli security bodies with Netanyahu’s backing and was not brought before the security cabinet, breaking with typical protocol.

The group has reportedly been operating in Rafah and claims to be protecting humanitarian aid convoys entering Gaza through Israel. However, others have accused the gang of looting the convoys.

On May 30, Hamas released a video showing masked men near a building that was subsequently blown up. The group claimed the individuals had collaborated with the IDF to inspect buildings ahead of troop movements. Although Hamas didn’t explicitly identify them, comparisons to earlier footage strongly suggested they were members of the Abu Shabab gang.

Speaking to Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper, anonymous Hamas sources said the group is becoming a growing challenge for Hamas terrorists. According to those sources, Abu Shabab’s force consists of about 300 members, roughly 50 personally recruited by him, and another 250 allegedly recruited via the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence services. However, Al-Akhbar did not verify those claims, and no evidence of PA involvement has been provided.

The group reportedly emerged in May 2024, following the IDF’s invasion of Rafah. Hamas sources said that its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, has begun assassinating members of the gang and views the group’s survival as a “central issue.”

Some of the gang’s members are also said to belong to extremist Salafi factions that had prior conflicts with Hamas before the war.