It has repeatedly been reported that Israel is working with armed militias and clans in the Gaza Strip that oppose Hamas, including groups known as the Popular Forces and Al-Majida. Now, The Wall Street Journal has reported in detail on how Jerusalem is assisting these groups and making use of their members during the ceasefire.
According to Israeli officials and military reservists cited in the report, Israel provides the clans with support through drones and shares intelligence, weapons and food, as well as cigarettes. They said several fighters from the militias were also airlifted to hospitals in Israel after being wounded.
Report: Israel cooperates with Gaza militias against Hamas during ceasefire
(Video: SkyNews)
The cooperation is based on shared hostility toward Hamas, but The Wall Street Journal also described how it serves Israel’s interests. Under the ceasefire terms, the IDF was required to pull back to positions along the so-called yellow line. Members of the militias, however, are still able to move into parts of Gaza under Hamas control that are meant to be beyond Israel’s reach. At the same time, Israel closely monitors the clans’ activities and has stepped in on several occasions to help them out of difficult situations, according to the report.
“When they go out and carry out actions against Hamas, we are there to oversee them and at times also to assist,” said Yaron Buskila, a former senior operations officer in the IDF’s Gaza Division. “That includes providing information, and if we see Hamas trying to threaten them or get close, we intervene actively.”
According to a person familiar with the matter, Israel has in recent months also relied on members of the Popular Forces militia to draw Hamas operatives out of tunnels in Rafah while explosives were pumped into the tunnel systems.
An IDF reservist who served in Gaza told The Wall Street Journal that he accompanied an aid convoy heading to a militia in Rafah during the summer. He said the operation took place once a week, late at night, with the vehicle’s lights turned off. The assistance included food, water, cigarettes and sealed boxes with unknown contents that were placed on the vehicles by the Shin Bet security agency.
Members of several clans have shown they can withstand pressure from Hamas and have set up small communities in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control. According to militia leaders and Israeli and Arab officials, their numbers range from several hundred to several thousand people. Even so, they have not yet managed to establish themselves as a viable alternative to Hamas.
Michael Milshtein, a former head of Palestinian affairs in IDF Military Intelligence, said the militias could face a fate similar to that of armed groups in Lebanon after Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Under the ceasefire framework promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump, the IDF is expected to withdraw from territory it currently controls, where the clan members are based.
“It is only a matter of time,” Milshtein said. “They will have to choose whether to stay and be executed or arrested, or flee and join the IDF.”
On Dec. 4, 2025, Israeli officials confirmed that Yasser Abu Shabab, who led the Popular Forces militia, was killed in Gaza. The militia said an internal dispute between several families escalated into a confrontation, during which one of those involved opened fire on Abu Shabab. The militia said the killing was not carried out by Hamas.