A week ago, MintPress News reported that Israel had been supporting extremist criminal militias in Gaza, with links to Daesh (Isis), as they looted humanitarian aid. And now, Israeli politicians – including war criminal prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself – are essentially confirming that. This comes amid a genocidal starvation campaign aiming to push Palestinians into despair and out of Gaza.
Netanyahu: ‘We did that. So what?’
Images have shown the Daesh-linked extremists, which oppose Hamas in Gaza, “brandishing automatic weapons” and “wearing Israeli military tactical vests”. MintPress described them as “an infamous criminal network responsible for looting humanitarian aid”, further worsening the already dire situation for people in Gaza. Even the UN has previously suggested Israeli involvement in supporting these criminals’ actions, especially since May 2024.
Yesterday (5 June), meanwhile, Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman claimed Netanyahu had arranged arms transfers to “clans associated with ISIS“. Netanyahu’s office stressed that his regime was trying to undermine Hamas in “diverse ways”. The Diplomatic-Security Cabinet added that “Israel does act to create conflict between Hamas and other forces”. Later, Netanyahu said:
we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What’s wrong with that?
There have been dozens of deaths as Israel has reluctantly allowed small amounts of aid into Gaza in recent days. And some of those may have links to the extremists Israel has supported. As a senior humanitarian official told MintPress:
Anyone telling you the gangs are helping the people is a liar
Israel’s relative comfort with Daesh
The Israeli colonial project long saw “Islamists as a useful ally against communism”, fostering religious ideology to undermine secular Palestinian resistance. But while Hamas aren’t progressive champions, they’re more about national liberation, and they’re certainly not the same as Al-Qaeda or Daesh. Because these groups “label other Muslims heretics [or] apostates” and have strong links to Saudi Arabia‘s state ideology of Wahhabism (which is not representative of the world’s Muslim community).
Daesh hates the coalition of Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas. And because Israel does too, it always considered Daesh less of a threat. For that reason, there have been many moments where Israel and Daesh strategically coexisted or avoided conflict. Some high-profile figures in the region even hinted at links between them.
But now, amid the global scholarly consensus that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 2023, it seems Netanyahu doesn’t care what the world thinks anymore. So he’s essentially happy to admit backing Daesh fanboys in Gaza.
Featured image via the Canary
