Netanyahu’s new gamble: Arming Daesh-linked militia in Gaza to undermine resistance

By Iqbal Jassat

Now that the genie is out of the bottle, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vain efforts to suppress news of a devious “third-force” element he set up to undermine the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, be sure the proverbial "bad changes" will haunt him. 

War criminals, especially of the Netanyahu-type, who morbidly celebrate their gruesome massacres and destruction of Palestinian lives, have much to learn about the rebounding effect of these third forces. 

A quick glance at South Africa's apartheid history and the despicable role of “counter-revolutionaries” to disrupt, fracture and fragment the liberation movements provides many crucial lessons. 

The period between the early 1980s and late 1990s saw clandestine operations in what the world came to learn were the apartheid regime's third-force hit-squads responsible for unleashing murder, targeted assassinations, violence and mayhem. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) found that while little evidence existed of a centrally directed, coherent or formally constituted 'Third Force', "a network of security and ex-security force operatives, frequently acting in conjunction with right-wing elements and/or sectors of the IFP, was involved in actions that could be construed as fomenting violence and which resulted in gross human rights violations, including random and target killings".

The involvement of security agencies in the violence reached a climax with the Boipatong massacre on June 17, 1992. A few months later, during a Goldstone raid on the offices of the apartheid-era Directorate of Covert Collections (DCC), evidence emerged of security forces’ involvement in illegal activities. 

During that same period, the Weekly Mail reported that two "young gangsters give a horrific account of how they were encouraged, equipped and trained to carry out violence against ANC-linked targets by the security forces". 

It said their account provided a "crucial missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle of what caused the violence," which rocked the townships. Both young men were interviewed separately, at length, and their accounts confirmed evidence provided by other sources. 

Now that reports have emerged of Israel’s scandalous third-force operatives in Gaza, it has landed the regime in hot water, amidst growing international outrage over its genocidal war against Palestinians, which it has roguishly labeled a “war on Hamas.” 

Having failed to suppress information about his devious clandestine involvement in setting up and equipping a criminal gang of thugs and being forced to admit to it finally, Netanyahu faces immense domestic pressure as well. 

The anti-resistance gang is led by a known criminal, Yasser Abu Shabab, whose links with the Daesh terrorist group have been widely known. Reports in Israeli media reveal that the Netanyahu regime has provided him with weapons as well as protection to operate in Rafah and other areas under Israeli military control. 

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed Netanyahu recently following revelations that he authorized the arming of Abu Shabab, whom he linked to Daesh.

Former military affairs minister Avigdor Liberman, who heads the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, also took a critical stance when he told the Kan broadcaster that Netanyahu had unilaterally approved the transfer of weapons to Abu Shabab. 

As for the crime of using starvation as a weapon of war, Abu Shabab has been implicated in acts of looting humanitarian aid under Israeli command and military protection. 

In recent days, his gang has been documented operating in an area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing under Israeli military control.

In footage, which was published online by Abu Shabab, members of the group can be seen wearing military-style uniforms with the Palestinian flag and the words “Counter-Terrorism Mechanism” emblazoned on them.

Being aware of Netanyahu's dirty tricks to foment third-force crimes, Hamas published an official video on May 30 showing a group of armed, masked men operating outside a building before being blown up.

According to media reports, Hamas claimed the group in the video was working with the Israeli military to inspect buildings before Israeli occupation troops moved in.

In his rationale for resorting to South Africa's discredited third-force type deployment, Netanyahu stressed that it was "to advance opposition to the resistance". 

“We made use of clans in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas… What’s wrong with that?” he said. “It’s only good. It saves the lives of IDF soldiers.”

Abu Shabab, a clan leader from Rafah, is the person used by Netanyahu to head a militia under Israeli military protection to "save IDF soldiers" in direct defiance of Hamas. 

Once a known figure in Gaza's criminal underworld, with links to drug trafficking, Abu Shabab has been dismissed by Hamas as "a tool used by the Israeli occupation to fragment the Palestinian internal front," while many others regard him as an outright collaborator.

While Netanyahu seeks to downplay his deceptive role, knowing that it is likely to bite him, major news outlets are reporting that Abu Shabab's group operates under full Israeli military protection. 

Witnesses say they have seen his fighters looting convoys and demanding "protection money" from drivers, all while Israeli military tanks watch as mute spectators.

As scandal upon scandal rocks the Zionist regime, and global public opinion continues to turn against it, its image as a demonic genocidal regime has gained supremacy, now compounded by the emergence of a third-force gang. 

Iqbal Jassat is an executive member of the Media Review Network, Johannesburg, South Africa.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV)

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