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GAZA CITY: The head of a Palestinian armed group opposed to Hamas and accused of aid looting in the Gaza Strip confirmed Sunday it was coordinating with the Israeli military in an interview with public radio.
Yasser Abu Shabab said his group, known as the Popular Forces, was able to move freely in zones under Israeli military control and communicated their operations beforehand.
“We keep them informed, but we carry out the military actions on our own,” he said in an interview with Makan, Israel’s Arabic-language public radio broadcaster.
Abu Shabab also said his group had received “logistical and financial support from several parties,” without mentioning Israel directly.
“There are things we can’t talk about publicly.”
Last month, the Israeli authorities admitted to providing support to armed Palestinian groups opposed to Hamas in Gaza, without naming them, though local media reports identified the group in question as Abu Shabab’s.
“It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time.
Knesset member and ex-defense minister Avigdor Lieberman, however, accused the government of “giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons.”
The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank describes Abu Shabab as the head of a criminal gang in the Rafah region of southern Gaza that has been suspected of looting aid trucks.
Abu Shabab did not address the accusation in his radio interview, and stressed that the only goal of his militia was to defeat Hamas and to provide an alternative for governance in the Gaza Strip.
“We do not belong to any ideology or political organization,” Abu Shabab said in the interview, adding that he was seeking to eradicate Hamas’s “injustice” and “corruption.”
“We will continue to fight, no matter the bloodshed,” he added. “Right now, Hamas is dying. They know their end is near.”
Abu Shabab has drawn the ire of Hamas, which has ruled over the Gaza Strip since 2007. On Wednesday, a Hamas military court gave him 10 days to turn himself in to be tried for treason, among other charges.
On Sunday, a coalition of Palestinian clans accused the Popular Forces of “shamelessly collaborating with the enemy.”
“They are rejected by all our people,” the coalition said in a statement.
“We will show no mercy to them or to anyone who follows in their footsteps by aiding the occupation. They will be treated as they deserve to be: traitors and collaborators.”

JERUSALEM: Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.

Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.

.”.. the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime.”

The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.

The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.

Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to UN estimates.

Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.

Pressure

Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.

The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.

The war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health ministry.

Most of Gaza’s population has been displaced by the war, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded, and much of the territory lies in ruins.