Israel quietly backs new Gaza militias fighting Hamas
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Israel’s reliance on new Palestinian militias in Gaza to target Hamas was on display earlier this month when Hussam Al Astal, the leader of one of the groups, boasted about the killing of a police official in Hamas-controlled territory and said more such attacks are planned. “We say to Hamas and everyone affiliated with Hamas: Just as we reached him, we will come for you, too," said Astal in a video message that showed him brandishing an assault rifle.
Israel’s support for these pop-up militias is extensive. It provides air support from drones, and shares intelligence, weapons, cigarettes and food, according to Israeli officials and military reservists. Some militia members have been airlifted to Israeli hospitals after sustaining injuries, the officials said.
This partnership, born out of a shared enmity for Hamas, is a useful tool for Israel. With its forces limited by the terms of a cease-fire with the militant group, the militias can get to areas of Hamas-controlled territory that are supposed to be off-limits to Israeli troops, including Al Mawasi, where Hamas said Astal’s men killed the police official. His group includes dozens of gunmen living in an Israeli-controlled part of Gaza.
Hamas described the team that killed the official as “agents of the Israeli occupation." “The price of betrayal is heavy and costly," Hamas said Thursday in a threat to militias working with Israel. Astal denied receiving assistance from Israel other than food, saying his forces targeted the police official themselves. “He caused problems for people who wanted to come to us," Astal told The Wall Street Journal in a phone interview.
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