In a shocking admission confirming months of warnings from Palestinian sources, Israeli officials have publicly acknowledged a covert strategy of arming and funding criminal gangs in Gaza in an attempt to dismantle the Palestinian resistance from within and plunge an already besieged population into further chaos.
This strategy, part of a broader campaign of psychological warfare, aims to erode trust in resistance factions, disrupt internal cohesion, and amplify the suffering of civilians who have already endured more than 20 months of relentless bombardment, starvation, and displacement.
One of the most notorious gangs involved is “Abu Shabab,” known for looting humanitarian aid and terrorising civilians, especially in Israeli-occupied zones in southern Gaza. Reports suggest this group operates with the tacit approval, and logistical support, of the Israeli army. The aim is not just disruption but the manufacture of chaos, where resistance fighters are forced to redirect their efforts away from defending the people toward managing growing internal insecurity.
This is not a new playbook. Israel’s past attempts to seed collaborators and divide Palestinian communities, such as in Rafah during the First Intifada, ended in failure and widespread popular rejection. Today’s tactics, however, exploit the humanitarian catastrophe, inserting armed gangs into a devastated civilian environment where social fabric is already strained to breaking point.
Resistance forces have responded with determination. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades recently ambushed and eliminated several members of the Abu Shabab gang in Khan Younis, signalling that the dismantling of these infiltrated groups is now a priority. Military analyst Rami Abu Zubayda warned that these gangs, recruited from criminal circles with no national allegiance, are being used to blur the lines between resistance fighters and foreign-backed militias, posing a serious threat to Gaza’s social unity and resistance infrastructure.
The strategy is clear: sow distrust, manufacture instability, and present these gangs as an alternative power base in a Gaza Strip battered by war and blockade.
Yet, this covert war has not gone unnoticed. Palestinian political analyst Omar Ja’ara noted that Israel’s resort to arming gangs is proof of its military failure, quoting former Defence Minister Lieberman: “You couldn’t defeat the resistance in two years, do you expect to do it in ten?” Despite their efforts, these gangs will never gain popular legitimacy among Palestinians, neither in Gaza nor the West Bank.
As Ja’ara concluded, Israel may try to fabricate an internal opposition to the resistance, but it cannot build loyalty where none exists. No weapons, no gang, no collaborator can substitute for the deep-rooted will of a people who continue to fight not just against bombs, but against betrayal from within.
