{"id":257048,"date":"2026-01-25T15:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T15:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/257048\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T15:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T15:29:14","slug":"israel-giving-gazas-anti-hamas-militias-weapons-intel-food-medical-care-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/257048\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel giving Gaza’s anti-Hamas militias weapons, intel, food, medical care \u2014 report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel is continuing to support anti-Hamas militias operating in the Gaza Strip, the Wall Street Journal reported <\/a>Saturday, providing them with weapons, support from drones, intelligence, food and cigarettes.<\/p>\n

It has also airlifted wounded militia members into Israel for medical care, according to the report, which cited \u201cIsraeli officials and military reservists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel has previously acknowledged its support for militias fighting Hamas in the enclave. Israel has been reported to back the Popular Forces<\/a>, a militia founded by an anti-Hamas armed Bedouin leader, Yasser Abu Shabab. Abu Shabab was killed in December in what the group described as a family feud.<\/p>\n

While Israeli support for the various Gazan militias has previously been reported, Saturday\u2019s Journal report highlighted Israel\u2019s support for one specifically, led by Hussam al-Astal, who said his group killed a police officer in the half of Gaza controlled by Hamas.<\/p>\n

The militia reportedly has dozens of members who are based in the part of the enclave controlled by Israel.<\/p>\n

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Supporting the groups is a way for Israel to back maneuvers against Hamas despite limitations imposed on it by the ceasefire in the Strip, the Journal said. Videos have showed the militia members with Israeli gear, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Hosam al-Astal, the commander of an armed faction opposed to Hamas in Gaza, said the group\u2019s 38th anniversary marked its collapse, declaring that Hamas is effectively finished. pic.twitter.com\/9TWXjBq40x<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Open Source Intel (@Osint613) December 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

According to an IDF reservist speaking to the US paper, he and other soldiers were tasked with accompanying a convoy carrying supplies to a Israel-backed militia in Rafah. The trucks carried \u201cfood, water, cigarettes and closed boxes with unknown contents that were placed in the vehicles by the Shin Bet security service,\u201d the report said, citing the soldier.\n<\/p>\n

However, militia leader Astal denied receiving anything from Israel other than food, and told the Journal that his operations against Hamas forces in Gaza, including the killing of the Hamas police officer last month, are of his own volition.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe caused problems for people who wanted to come to us,\u201d Astal said of the Hamas officer, in a phone interview with the paper. \u201cHe was harming us \u2014 anyone who tried to reach us was shot at or arrested. Whoever replaces him will be killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on the IDF\u2019s role in supporting the anti-Hamas groups, former senior officer Yaron Buskila said: \u201cWhen they are going and doing activities against Hamas, we are there to watch them and some of the time to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means helping them with information and if we see Hamas trying to threaten them or come close, we are actively getting involved,\u201d said Buskila.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tThe militia of Ashraf al-Mansi in the northern Gaza Strip, October 4, 2025. (Screenshot: Facebook, clausa 27a of the copytight law)<\/p>\n

Despite the IDF\u2019s support, some in Israel have voiced concern over the true motivations of the militias and their potential to threaten Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe interests of a militia are first of all to the militia, not to someone else. And it can turn on you,\u201d recently retired senior officer Saar Tzur told the Journal.<\/p>\n

Michael Milshtein, former IDF intelligence officer and one of Israel\u2019s top scholars on Palestinian society, said that while the militias \u201cmay occasionally conduct a successful operation against Hamas,\u201d they are likely to face a similar fate to the south Lebanon militias that Israel supported during the Lebanese civil war.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a matter of time. They will have to choose whether to stay and be executed or arrested, or escape and join the IDF,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The IDF and Shin Bet both declined to comment on the report.<\/p>\n


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