'This desire to eliminate Hamas in Gaza will only build a generation of jihadists against Israel'
17:16
06/06/2025
Arms blockade symbolic: 'US will have to take action to pressure Israel to change behaviour in Gaza'
Middle East
06/06/2025
French dock workers block shipment of military material for Israel
France
06/06/2025
Aid vessel heading to Gaza rescues four Libyan migrants in Mediterranean Sea
Middle East
06/06/2025
Israeli PM Netanyahu confirms arming Gaza militia against Hamas
Middle East
06/06/2025
Israel targets Hezbollah's drone production in southern Beirut
Middle East
05/06/2025
'We protect our society as a whole' when our leaders encourage us to unite against violent rhetoric
Americas
04/06/2025
There is no accountability for atrocities against Syrian minorities, analyst says
Middle East
04/06/2025
US- and Israeli-backed group pauses food delivery in Gaza after deadly shootings
Middle East
04/06/2025
Is Gaza Humanitarian Foundation trying to 'drive entire population of Gaza to Rafa border'?
Middle East
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LeMonde
32 minutes ago
- LeMonde
Israel admits to supporting anti-Hamas armed group in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes the militant group Hamas, following comments by a former minister that Israel had transferred weapons to it. Israeli and Palestinian media have reported that the group Israel has been working with is part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab. The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) think tank describes Abu Shabab as the leader of a "criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks." Knesset member and ex-defense minister Avigdor Lieberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu's direction, was "giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons." "What did Lieberman leak? ...That on the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What is bad about that?" Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on Thursday, June 5. "It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers." Michael Milshtein, an expert on Palestinian affairs at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv, told AFP that the Abu Shabab clan was part of a Bedouin tribe that spans across the border between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Some of the tribe's members, he said, were involved in "all kinds of criminal activities, drug smuggling, and things like that." Army spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin on Friday confirmed the military supported arming local militias in Gaza but remained tight-lipped on the details. "I can say that we are operating in various ways against Hamas governance," Defrin said during a televised press conference when questioned on the subject, without elaborating further. 'Gangster' The ECFR said Abu Shabab was "reported to have been previously jailed by Hamas for drug smuggling. His brother is said to have been killed by Hamas during a crackdown against the group's attacks on UN aid convoys." Israel regularly accuses Hamas, with which it has been at war for nearly 20 months, of looting aid convoys in Gaza. Hamas said the group had "chosen betrayal and theft as their path" and called on civilians to oppose them. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, said it had evidence of "clear coordination between these looting gangs, collaborators with the occupation (Israel), and the enemy army itself in the looting of aid and the fabrication of humanitarian crises that deepen the suffering of" Palestinians. The Popular Forces, as Abu Shabab's group calls itself, said on Facebook it had "never been, and will never be, a tool of the occupation". "Our weapons are simple, outdated and came through the support of our own people," it added.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Israel admits support for anti-Hamas armed group accused of looting Gaza aid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes the militant group Hamas, following comments by a former minister that Israel had transferred weapons to it. Israeli and Palestinian media have reported that the group Israel has been working with is part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab. The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) think tank describes Abu Shabab as the leader of a "criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks". Knesset member and ex-defence minister Avigdor Lieberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu's direction, was "giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons". "What did Lieberman leak? ... That on the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What is bad about that?" Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on Thursday. "It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers." Michael Milshtein, an expert on Palestinian affairs at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv, told AFP that the Abu Shabab clan was part of a Bedouin tribe that spans across the border between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Some of the tribe's members, he said, were involved in "all kinds of criminal activities, drug smuggling, and things like that". Army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin on Friday confirmed the military supported arming local militias in Gaza but remained tight-lipped on the details. "I can say that we are operating in various ways against Hamas governance," Defrin said during a televised press conference when questioned on the subject, without elaborating further. 'Gangster' Milshtein said that Abu Shabab had spent time in prison in Gaza and that his clan chiefs had recently denounced him as an Israeli "collaborator and a gangster". "It seems that actually the Shabak (Israeli security agency) or the (military) thought it was a wonderful idea to turn this militia, gang actually, into a proxy, to give them weapons and money and shelter" from army operations, Milshtein said. He added that Hamas killed four members of the gang days ago. The ECFR said Abu Shabab was "reported to have been previously jailed by Hamas for drug smuggling. His brother is said to have been killed by Hamas during a crackdown against the group's attacks on UN aid convoys." Israel regularly accuses Hamas, with which it has been at war for nearly 20 months, of looting aid convoys in Gaza. Hamas said the group had "chosen betrayal and theft as their path" and called on civilians to oppose them. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, said it had evidence of "clear coordination between these looting gangs, collaborators with the occupation (Israel), and the enemy army itself in the looting of aid and the fabrication of humanitarian crises that deepen the suffering of" Palestinians. The Popular Forces, as Abu Shabab's group calls itself, said on Facebook it had "never been, and will never be, a tool of the occupation". "Our weapons are simple, outdated and came through the support of our own people," it added. Milshtein called Israel's decision to arm a group such as Abu Shabab "a fantasy, not something that you can really describe as a strategy". "I really hope it will not end with catastrophe," he said.
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
French mayor to go on trial over alleged sex-tape blackmail of political rival
A French mayor accused of using a sex tape to blackmail a political rival is set to go on trial in September after a court on Friday ordered him to face criminal proceedings. Gaël Perdriau, who leads the city of Saint-Etienne in central France, is accused of orchestrating the plot in 2015, using footage of his deputy with a male escort. The two magistrates investigating the case ordered that Perdriau, 52, be tried for blackmail, theft, embezzlement of public funds by a public official and participation in a criminal association, Lyon 's chief prosecutor Thierry Dran said in a statement. The case, triggered by a whistleblower in 2022, involves a 2015 video of former deputy mayor Gilles Artigues receiving a massage from a male escort in a Paris hotel. Perdriau allegedly demanded political loyalty and electoral concessions from Artigues in return for keeping the compromising video private, according to court documents seen by AFP. Despite being ousted from the conservative Republicans party and under pressure to resign, Perdriau has maintained his innocence and continues to hold office – even hinting at a 2026 re-election bid. The trial is set to take place between September 22 and 26, pending any appeals, the prosecutor added.
