19 October 2025 10:02 BST
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the strikes were launched in an attempt to protect the militias of Yasser Abu Shabab, an Israeli-backed gang accused of stealing humanitarian aid and attacking Hamas fighters during Israel’s two-year genocidal war on Gaza.
What happened?
The Sahem unit, an armed unit affiliated with the Interior Ministry, said the clashes started on Saturday when “an outlaw gang killed resistance fighters from the Qassam Brigades”, the armed wing of Hamas, near the Jordan Field Hospital in Gaza City.
Witnesses told the BBC that 300 Hamas fighters stormed a residential block where Doghmush gunmen were holed up, and a Palestinian security source told the Reuters news agency that Hamas launched a campaign in Gaza City that killed 32 members of “a gang”.
According to the Interior Ministry, eight Hamas members and 19 clan members were killed.
In its 28 March 2024 order in the case of South Africa v. Israel, making explicit reference to the ‘catastrophic humanitarian situation’ in Gaza, the International Court of Justice instructed the State of Israel to:
‘Take all necessary and e ective measures to ensure, without delay, in full co-operation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitation requirements, as well as medical supplies and medical care to Palestinians throughout Gaza, including by increasing the capacity and number of land crossing points and maintaining them open for as long as necessary.’
The Court indicated that Israel was required to take these measures to comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and raised particular concern regarding ‘the spread of famine and starvation’.
In the sixteen months since the Court issued this order, Israel has continued to pursue policies which have the foreseeable outcome of the destruction of the Palestinian people of Gaza.
This report focuses on an Israeli system of aid distribution that ostensibly feeds Palestinians in Gaza, while in fact, according to our analysis, constituting a programme of intentional mass starvation on two levels: first, the starvation of individuals through the provision of starvation rations or no rations at all, and second, the use of mass starvation as a means of destroying the social order among the population of Gaza as a whole, towards the
dismantling of the foundations of a functioning society in the region, and the separation of that population from its land.
Our findings show how Israel has systematically dismantled the long-standing and e ective ‘civilian model’ of aid distribution through aid organisations and the local community. In its place, Israel has established a ‘military model’ of aid distribution which carries out starvation rationing. Through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and airdropped aid, Israel has created dependency upon a system which is, we conclude, deadly by design.
Aug 22, 2025
As the world‘s leading authority on hunger crises officially declared a catastrophic famine in Gaza, a report published Friday details how Israel has dismantled the time-tested civilian aid distribution model and replaced it with a military-based system in which many Palestinians are not only dying from starvation but are also being killed while trying to obtain food.
Forensic Architecture (FA)—a multidisciplinary research group based at Goldsmiths, University of London—and World Peace Foundation (WPF), a philanthropic organization affiliated with the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts—published The Architecture of Genocidal Starvation in Gaza, March-August 2025, „revealing how… Israel has dismantled the proven and internationally-backed ‚civilian model‘ of aid distribution, replacing it with a ‚military model‘ which furthers Israel‘s military and political objectives in Gaza while starving the region‘ss civilian population.“
(June 5, 2025)
Abu Shabab claims to be securing humanitarian aid convoys entering Gaza, while some have accused his gang of looting them.
The arming of Abu Shabab was carried out without the approval of Israel’s security cabinet. It was led by Israeli security bodies, and was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to defense sources.
Haaretz also reported that Lieberman directly linked the group to IS, saying: „The Hamasha clan are in essence lawless criminals who in recent years wanted to give themselves an ideological angle or spin, so they became Salafi [jihadists] and began identifying with ISIS.“
Though the group now brands itself as an „anti-terror“ force, locals see little distinction between their behaviour and that of organised crime syndicates. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed also reported that the group rebranded from the Anti-Terrorism Unit to The Popular Forces in May 2025 – possibly to obscure its affiliations.
Israel’s prime minister says he’s using what he called clans to fight Hamas in Gaza.
He says it’s a way of saving Israeli soldiers’ lives.
Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko reports:
In response, Netanyahu‘s office said: „Israel is working to defeat Hamas in various ways, on the recommendation of all heads of the security establishment.“
In recent months there have been several reports that Israel is suspected of supporting, or turning a blind eye to, armed gangs that loot aid and food depots in Gaza.
Several Israeli news websites reported on Thursday that the armed gang is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a member of a large clan in southern Gaza.
„Israel has provided assault rifles and light weapons to crime families in Gaza, on Netanyahu‘s orders,“ Lieberman, the head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party and a former finance minister and deputy prime minister, told Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Thursday.
„The weapons are being transferred to criminals and offenders and are being directed at Israel.
„In my opinion, it did not pass cabinet approval. The head of the Shin Bet knows, I‘m not sure the chief of staff knows. We‘re talking about the equivalent of Isis in Gaza,“ he added, referencing the Islamic State group.