Netanyahu says Israel has ‘activated’ some Palestinian clans opposed to Hamas

Netanyahu says Israel has ‘activated’ some Palestinian clans opposed to Hamas
Netanyahu did not specify what support Israel was giving to the clans. (AFP/File)
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Updated 06 June 2025
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Netanyahu says Israel has ‘activated’ some Palestinian clans opposed to Hamas

Netanyahu says Israel has ‘activated’ some Palestinian clans opposed to Hamas

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel has “activated” some clans of Palestinians in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas, though it was not immediately clear what role they would play.
His comments on social media were the first public acknowledgment of Israel’s backing of armed Palestinian groups within Gaza, based around powerful clans or extended families.
Such clans often wield some control in corners of Gaza, and some have had clashes or tensions with Hamas in the past. Palestinians and aid workers have accused clans of carrying out criminal attacks and stealing aid from trucks. Several clans have issued public statements rejecting cooperation with the Israelis or denouncing looting.
An Israeli official said that one group that Netanyahu was referring to was the so-called Popular Forces, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a local clan leader in Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
In recent weeks, the Abu Shabab group announced online that its fighters were helping protect shipments to the new, Israeli-backed food distribution centers run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the Rafah area. But some Palestinians say the group has also been involved in attacking and looting aid convoys.
Netanyahu did not specify what support Israel was giving to the clans, or what specifically their role would be. His announcement came hours after a political opponent criticized him for arming unofficial groups of Palestinians in Gaza.
In a video posted to his X account, Netanyahu said the government made the move on the advice of “security officials,” in order to save lives of Israeli soldiers.
Though it was known in southern Gaza throughout the war, the Abu Shabab group emerged publicly the past month, posting pictures of its armed members, with helmets, flak jackets and automatic weapons. It declared itself a “nationalist force” protecting aid.
The Abu Shabab family renounced Yasser over his connections with the Israeli military in a recent statement, saying he and anyone who joined his group “are no longer linked” to the family.
The group’s media office said in response to emailed questions from the Associated Press that it operates in Israeli military-controlled areas for a “purely humanitarian” reason.
It described its ties with the Israel military as “humanitarian communication to facilitate the introduction of aid and ensure that it is not intercepted.”
“We are not proxies for anyone,” it said. “We have not received any military or logistical support from any foreign party.”
It said it has “secured the surroundings” of GHF centers in Rafah but was not involved in distribution of food.
It rejected accusations that the group had looted aid, calling them “exaggerations” and part of a “smear campaign.” But it also said, “our popular forces led by Yasser Abu Shabab only took the minimum amount of food and water necessary to secure their elements in the field,” without elaborating how, and from whom, they took the aid.
Abu Shabab and around 100 fighters have been active in eastern parts of Rafah and Khan Younis, areas under Israeli military control, according to Nahed Sheheiber, head of the private transportation union in Gaza that provides trucks and drivers for aid groups. He said they used to attack aid trucks driving on a military-designated route leading from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, the main entry point for aid.
“Our trucks were attacked many times by the Abu Shabab gang and the occupation forces stood idle. They did nothing,” Sheheiber said, referring to the Israeli military,
“The one who has looted aid is now the one who protects aid,” he said sarcastically.
An aid worker in Gaza said humanitarian groups tried last year to negotiate with Abu Shabab and other influential families to end their looting of convoys. Though they agreed, they soon reverted to hijacking trucks, the aid worker said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk the media.
The aid worker said he saw Abu Shabab’s men operating in Israeli-controlled areas near the military-held Morag Corridor in southern Gaza in late May. They were wearing new uniforms and carried what appeared to be new weapons, he said.
Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN humanitarian office OCHA for the occupied Palestinian territory, said Thursday that “criminal gangs operating under the watch of Israeli forces near Kerem Shalom would systematically attack and loot aid convoys. .... These gangs have by far been the biggest cause of aid loss in Gaza.”
The war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-linked militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Israel responded with an offensive that has decimated Gaza, displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people and caused a humanitarian crisis that has left the territory on the brink of famine.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than half of them women and children. The ministry, which is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government, does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.
Hamas is still holding 56 hostages. Around a third are believed to be alive, though many fear they are in grave danger the longer the war goes on.


Israel FM says opportunity to free Gaza hostages ‘must not be missed’

Israel FM says opportunity to free Gaza hostages ‘must not be missed’
Updated 7 sec ago
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Israel FM says opportunity to free Gaza hostages ‘must not be missed’

Israel FM says opportunity to free Gaza hostages ‘must not be missed’
JERUSALEM: Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar on Wednesday said any opportunity to free hostages held in Gaza should not be missed, after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire.

“A large majority within the government and the population is in favor of the plan to free the hostages. If the opportunity arises, it must not be missed!” Gideon Saar wrote on X.

China says Premier Li to visit Brazil for BRICS summit and Egypt

China says Premier Li to visit Brazil for BRICS summit and Egypt
Updated 3 min 48 sec ago
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China says Premier Li to visit Brazil for BRICS summit and Egypt

China says Premier Li to visit Brazil for BRICS summit and Egypt
  • Beijing and Moscow have hailed the BRICS club as a counterweight to what they see as Western hegemony on the world stage

BEIJING: Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit Brazil for a meeting of BRICS countries and then Egypt next week, Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

“Li Qiang will attend the 17th BRICS Summit upon invitation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 5 to 8,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Beijing and Moscow have hailed the BRICS club as a counterweight to what they see as Western hegemony on the world stage.

A loose grouping of countries named after founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China, its members pledge to boost trade and cooperation, though it is not a trade pact and has few institutional ties.

The Kremlin said last week, however, that President Vladimir Putin would not travel to Brazil for the upcoming summit due to the outstanding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant on the Russian president.

Following his visit to Brazil, Li will then “pay an official visit to Egypt from July 9 to 10,” Beijing said.

Beijing has sought to frame itself as a mediator in the Middle East, facilitating a 2023 rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran and portraying itself as a more neutral actor in the Israel-Palestinian conflict than its rival the United States.


US bombing “seriously damaged” Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, FM says

US bombing “seriously damaged” Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, FM says
Updated 02 July 2025
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US bombing “seriously damaged” Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, FM says

US bombing “seriously damaged” Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, FM says
  • President Donald Trump has said the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program

The US bombing of Iran’s key Fordow nuclear site has “seriously and heavily damaged” the facility, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview with CBS News.

“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Araqchi said in the interview broadcast on Tuesday.

“The Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran... is currently undertaking evaluation and assessment, the report of which will be submitted to the government.”

Intercepted Iranian communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by US strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the US government.

President Donald Trump has said the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, but US officials acknowledge it will take time to form a complete assessment of the damage caused by the US military strikes last weekend.


An oil-drilling ship capsized in the Gulf of Suez, killing at least four crewmen, Egypt says

An oil-drilling ship capsized in the Gulf of Suez, killing at least four crewmen, Egypt says
Updated 02 July 2025
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An oil-drilling ship capsized in the Gulf of Suez, killing at least four crewmen, Egypt says

An oil-drilling ship capsized in the Gulf of Suez, killing at least four crewmen, Egypt says
  • There were 30 workers on board when the drilling ship capsized

CAIRO: An oil-drilling ship capsized in the Gulf of Suez, killing at least four crewmen and leaving four others missing, authorities said Wednesday.

The drilling ship overturned Tuesday evening off the city of Ras Ghareb, on the African side of the Gulf of Suez, the Red Sea’s northwestern arm and a crucial shipping route, the Petroleum Ministry said in a statement.

There were 30 workers on board when the drilling ship capsized, said Amr Hanafy, governor of the Red Sea province.

Rescue teams recovered four bodies and rescued two 22 others who were taken to hospitals, he said.

He said ships from the Egyptian navy joined the search-and-rescue efforts which were still ongoing overnight for four missing crewmen.

The capsizing happened in an area called Gabel el-Zeit, a prominent Egyptian oil production site around 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of the Suez Canal, the ministry said in a statement.

The capsizing was unlikely to cause disruption to vessels transiting through the canal, which links the Gulf of Suez to the Mediterranean Sea.


Sudanese fleeing war are at risk of worsening hunger in neighboring nations, UN warns

Sudanese fleeing war are at risk of worsening hunger in neighboring nations, UN warns
Updated 02 July 2025
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Sudanese fleeing war are at risk of worsening hunger in neighboring nations, UN warns

Sudanese fleeing war are at risk of worsening hunger in neighboring nations, UN warns
  • Sudan plunged into war in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and its paramilitary rival, the Rapid Support Forces, escalated to fighting in the capital of Khartoum and spread across the country

CAIRO: Millions of people fleeing the conflict in Sudan risk falling deeper into hunger as they seek refuge in countries already grappling with food insecurity, the United Nations warned.
The World Food Program, the UN’s food agency, said Monday that over four million Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries are at risk of suffering further food insecurities as crucial funding for life-saving food assistance is expected to dwindle in the coming months in the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Uganda and Chad.
About 40,000 people have been killed and nearly 13 million displaced, including to other countries, by Sudan’s civil war that began in April 2023, according to estimates from UN agencies.
Nearly half of the population remaining in Sudan is facing acute food insecurity, with some areas of the country suffering from malnutrition, which has killed 239 children in the past six months in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, the Sudan Doctors Network said.
The group said the children died as a result of severe shortages of food and medicine, and the bombing of nutrition warehouses in the Sudanese province between January and June.
Sudan plunged into war in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and its paramilitary rival, the Rapid Support Forces, escalated to fighting in the capital of Khartoum and spread across the country.
But those fleeing the conflict continue to suffer from malnutrition even beyond Sudan’s borders.
“Refugees from Sudan are fleeing for their lives and yet are being met with more hunger, despair, and limited resources on the other side of the border,” said Shaun Hughes, WFP’s Emergency Coordinator for the Sudan Regional Crisis. “Food assistance is a lifeline for vulnerable refugee families with nowhere else to turn.”
Food insecurity and famine conditions have spread across Sudan. The Darfur Victims Support Organization on Tuesday posted pictures on Facebook showing scores of citizens lining up to receive a meal from a charity kitchen. The group appealed to international organizations to take notice of the humanitarian situation in the city and called on armed groups to declare a truce and open corridors to deliver much needed civilian aid.
The southern part of El Fasher saw renewed clashes between the army and the RSF Monday morning despite the UN calling for a week-long ceasefire in the city for aid distribution, which the Sudanese army accepted, the Darfur-based group said.
The El Fasher Resistance Committee said Sunday that heavy artillery shelling targeted several residential areas and the livestock market for the third day in a row, killing and injuring civilians amid a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the area.
The Trump administration’s cuts to the US Agency for International Development have also had an impact, with programs being defunded. In Sudan, 90 communal kitchens closed in Khartoum, leaving more than half a million people without consistent access to food, according to the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aid organization.