MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes over these past 20 months of war, a war which began with a deadly Hamas attack on Israel. Gaza now lies in ruins. The leaders of Hamas have been killed, and the group, which still holds some Israeli hostages, has been vastly degraded. Now Israel is using another tactic in the war, arming a new militia in Gaza. NPR's Aya Batrawy in Dubai reports on the group and its origins.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: The biggest looting of U.N. aid anywhere ever happened in southern Gaza last November. Here's U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric speaking to reporters about it then.
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STEPHANE DUJARRIC: You and I have been in these briefings for a few years. I don't ever recall any of us talking about a convoy of 109 trucks run by the U.N. being looted.
BATRAWY: The looters took all the food, even the fuel and tires from the trucks. This brazen attack happened in an area of Gaza under Israeli military control near the border with Israel. It was one of many lootings that Palestinians say was carried out by gangs that became known as Abu Shabab, a group named after one of its leaders, Yasser Abu Shabab, a man Israel is now arming as a militia leader. Eyad Amawi is an aid coordinator in Gaza. He says Abu Shabab's looting of U.N. aid last year caused widespread hunger.
EYAD AMAWI: We know very well Yasser Abu Shabab. He is a criminal, a fugitive, wanted for numerous drug-related charges. Socially, he is isolated and widely known throughout the Palestinian community as an untrustworthy and mentally unstable individual.
BATRAWY: Abu Shabab was in jail in Gaza when the war started back in 2023 for murder and drug smuggling. Hamas say he was freed when they opened the prisons to spare people from Israeli airstrikes all around. What was suspected in Gaza was that Abu Shabab's looters were supported by Israel, as their looting kicked the legs out from under the U.N. aid system, which Israel alleges Hamas was benefiting from. Last week, Israel's support for Abu Shabab was made explicit when opposition politician Avigdor Lieberman said this on Israeli public radio.
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AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is constantly trying to build something to counter something else. He says, for years, Netanyahu allowed Hamas to receive funding for its government to undermine the rival Palestinian Authority. And he says, "we saw how that ended."
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LIEBERMAN: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: He says Netanyahu is now providing weapons to fighters from the extremist Islamic State group to counter Hamas in Gaza. Netanyahu responded to Lieberman by confirming Israel is backing tribes in Gaza.
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PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: He says Israel has, quote, "activated clans that oppose Hamas" and says, "what's wrong with that?" Before saying, "it's only good." But even far-right ministers in his government say they do not support this idea. And neither do Palestinians, like Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib. He's a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council who's had family killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. He's also opposed to Hamas in power but says any alternative must have clear oversight by a Palestinian political body in order to govern with legitimacy, unlike Yasser Abu Shabab.
AHMED FOUAD ALKHATIB: He creates this illusion that Gazans who are anti-Hamas are all somehow affiliated with the IDF, with the Israeli military. So that's what's dangerous about him.
BATRAWY: Abu Shabab, meanwhile, is now rebranding itself as protectors of aid, with photos of them securing routes for a new Israeli plan that restricts how food is distributed in Gaza. Health officials say at least 150 people have been killed by Israeli soldiers trying to reach these sites run by American contractors. Israel says troops have fired warning shots. On a new Facebook page, Abu Shabab describes itself as a counterterror group and labels itself the popular forces.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: In one of their videos, they call residents of southeast Gaza who've been forcibly displaced by the military to return, saying it's safe. It shows a family receiving food aid from them and empty tents they've erected. The group's also posted photos brandishing what analysts say appear to be Hamas rifles seized by Israel. They're donning helmets, camo and tactical vests, and they have an insignia of an eagle eating a snake. But Hamas, too, has videos.
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BATRAWY: In this, Hamas fighters scope out some of Abu Shabab's men, described as Zionist collaborators in south Gaza's Rafah. Several are then killed with an improvised explosive.
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BATRAWY: And Abu Shabab this week, for the first time in the war, say they ambushed a group of Hamas security forces who target looters and collaborators in southern Gaza. Hamas say the Israeli military then struck their fighters to provide cover for Abu Shabab to flee. Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Dubai, with reporting by Anas Baba in Gaza City and Ahmed Abu Hamda in Cairo. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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