Israel is recruiting Palestinian families to form armed gangs under threat of airstrikes if they refuse

Israel intelligence has repeatedly been trying to recruit Palestinians in Gaza to form armed gangs. There have been reports of the Israeli Security Agency, or Shin Bet, approaching community elders from prominent Palestinian families in Gaza, pressuring them to form local armed groups, and to manage aid distribution, police neighbourhoods, fight Hamas, and pass on information to the occupation.

Israel recruiting armed gangs in Gaza to turn Palestinians against each other

Yesterday, in the southern neighbourhood of Gaza City called Tel Al-Hawa, houses belonging to the Abu Hasira family were bombed after they refused recruitment attempts by the Israeli occupation to become part of the operations against their fellow Palestinians.

A Palestinian, called Motassem Baker, has also spoken of the pressure his family have been facing from the Israeli occupation forces (IOF), who guaranteed their security in their homes if members of his family joined the armed gangs which are backed by the occupation.

Baker said:

Yesterday, the elder of our family left after deciding, along with the rest of the family, to abandon their homes in Western Gaza. This came following a phone call in which he was asked to stay, with a promise of safety, on the condition that the family’s sons act as a militia like ‘Abu Shabab’ and commit to the army’s policies.

Palestinians who reject the occupation’s advances pay a heavy price

But his family chose to reject the occupation’s offer. They left their homes, preferring to sleep on the streets rather than betray the Palestinian community. Just hours after the refusal, Israeli occupation forces bombed the family block, committing a massacre against Baker’s cousins.

The aim is to divide Gaza into clan-controlled regions, blocking the emergence of a unified Palestinian leadership, or the foundation of a future Palestinian state. When these Palestinians refuse to collaborate, the Israeli occupation retaliates with brutal airstrikes: In the al-Sabra area of Gaza City, 30 members of the Doghmush family were killed, with at least 20 more still under the rubble, near Al-Shati camp.

Yasser Abu Shabab, a gang leader and convicted criminal thought to have links to Isis, is an Israeli occupation collaborator and head of the Popular Forces. This is an Israeli occupation-backed criminal gang, operating in the Rafah area and armed by Shin Bet . It has been responsible for systematic looting of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza’s starving population, and also forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza.

Occupation weakening the social cohesion of Palestinian community in Gaza

The Israeli occupation has openly confirmed that local clans and gangs opposing Hamas have been “activated” and armed on the recommendation of security chiefs, justifying this as a means to “save the lives of Israeli soldiers”. This policy has profound social and humanitarian consequences, as it not only intensifies lawlessness in Gaza, but also undermines traditional sources of authority and unity.

Traditionally, local families and community leaders have been stabilising forces that maintained order and resolved disputes. But now weapons and external backing are involved, these groups become competing power centres, fueling internal rivalries, spreading violence, and weakening unity in Palestinian society.

Since late 2024, the occupation has not only approached influential Palestinian families, offering support and arms in exchange for their opposition to Hamas and cooperation in new political arrangements, but has also deliberately assassinated Hamas government personnel as part of a concerted campaign to create a social and political vacuum in Gaza. This vacuum is then filled by armed groups and looters.

Hamas has responded by establishing special units tasked with combatting the rise of these gangs, but such forces have repeatedly come under direct attack by Israeli drones and military units, underlining the Israeli occupation’s active protection and encouragement of criminal chaos.

Shin Bet has used blackmail and coercion to recruit individuals, forcing them to act as informants or agents within Gaza. These agents engage in looting and trespassing, often with explicit orders to target resistance members and contribute to general lawlessness, and the proliferation of weapons among these groups has only made the violence and mistrust worse.

Israel is breaking Gaza’s social fabric by recruiting armed gangs

Gaza is being pushed into intentional disorder, as once tightly-knit families grounded in loyalty and solidarity are being undermined by outside forces and internal conflicts. Those who refuse recruitment, such as the Baker family, face the certainty of airstrikes, while those collaborators accepting the occupation’s offers of ‘safety’, lose all credibility among their people.

Israel’s policy of arming clans, gangs, and criminal networks in Gaza erodes the foundations for any stable political future. By dismantling traditional leadership structures and fueling rivalries between clans, the Israeli occupation is creating a fragmented landscape where no credible authority can emerge. This fragmentation undermines prospects for a unified Palestinian state and prolongs instability, ensuring that any post-genocide arrangement will only be shaped by manipulation from outside forces.

Feature image via Al Jazeera English/Youtube.