GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) -- A recent investigation published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Israel is providing financial and military backing to Daesh-linked criminal gangs, drug dealers, and mercenaries operating in Gaza, using them to carry out war crimes on behalf of the occupying regime’s army. 
According to the investigation, five prominent armed groups are currently active in Gaza under Israeli military control, deployed in Beit Hanoun, Shujaiyeh, Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis, and Rafah.
The report indicates that these armed groups now function as an “operational arm” of the Israeli army and the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal spy agency, within Gaza. 
Senior Israeli military officials stated that the key figures leading these groups are not political leaders or credible alternatives to Hamas. Rather, they are former gang bosses and drug dealers who have exploited Gaza’s disorder for personal gain.
Haaretz quoted an Israeli air force officer who tracked the gunmen by drone alongside a Shin Bet operative, saying, “You see Israel, the IDF and Shin Bet sending armed, trained militias to commit war crimes, and I’m the one who has to protect them during their operations so they don’t get hurt.”
The investigation, based on the officer’s account and UN data, found that the armed groups opened fire on civilians, looted and torched homes, and forcibly displaced families from shelters.
The report draws comparisons to the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, where an Israel-backed militia killed as many as 3,500 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in Beirut refugee camps while Israeli forces sealed off the area, watched the killings, and fired illumination flares to help the militants spot targets. 
Gazan sources confirmed that the Israeli military has provided the militias with artillery and drone cover during their attacks. The groups reportedly use Israeli army call signs, appear on briefing maps, are marked in command systems, and maintain bases near Israeli outposts.
The tactic builds on Israel’s earlier support for the now-deceased Daesh-linked leader Yasser Abu Shabab, who was known for looting aid and targeting Palestinian civilians. 
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously acknowledged that Abu Shabab’s gang was armed by Israel. 
Abu Shabab emerged during the two-year war as head of the so-called Popular Forces, engaging in looting, killings, and kidnappings while collaborating with Israeli forces under military protection. 
A 2024 internal UN report identified his group as a key actor behind systematic looting of humanitarian aid convoys in Gaza. 
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israel’s genocidal war has resulted in over 73,417 Palestinian deaths and more than 174,360 injuries.