Haaretz Investigation: Israeli Army Trains and Arms Gaza Gangs Used to Loot Homes and Expel Palestinians

An Israeli soldier described his job plainly to Haaretz: guarding armed militias while they operate on behalf of the state.

"The state, the army and Shin Bet send trained militias to commit war crimes, and I'm the one who has to protect them during their operations so they don't get hurt."

That account sits at the center of a Haaretz investigation, based on soldier testimony, UN reporting and satellite imagery, which found the Israeli army has trained at least five militia groups, and possibly a sixth, operating out of fortified bases inside Israeli-occupied areas of Gaza.

The militias are described in the investigation as armed, supplied and, during operations, backed by Israeli artillery and drone support. One soldier told Haaretz that gunmen arrived in pickup trucks and "just ran and shot at people." Describing a separate raid, the soldier said the mercenaries went house to house.

"They entered every structure, looted everything they could get their hands on, came out with piles of stuff, and then burned down the house."

Named leaders, documented ties

One militia leader identified in the investigation, Yasser Abu Shabab, had links to the Islamic State group. He was killed by Hamas in December 2025; his own family had already renounced him as a collaborator, and Haaretz reports many Palestinians celebrated his death. The investigation notes the militia network he helped build has continued to expand since the October 2025 ceasefire.

A second leader, Shawqi Abu Nasira, acknowledged the arrangement on video. "I made the decision to liberate the land from Hamas," he said. "If people say that makes me a collaborator, then I'm a collaborator."

Haaretz also reports that Israeli forces levelled a Palestinian cemetery in Shujaiya and built an extensive militia training ground on the site, part of what the investigation describes as infrastructure the army has constructed for the gangs amid Gaza's wider destruction.

An operational arm

Soldiers told Haaretz the fighters now move freely near Israeli army outposts and film displays of force for recruitment on Facebook. The investigation describes the militias as functioning increasingly as an operational arm of the army and Shin Bet, allowing Israel to strike anyone it labels a Hamas affiliate while also turning gunmen loose on ordinary Palestinians trying to survive.

Hamas sources told Haaretz they will not surrender what they call defensive weapons while armed, Israeli-backed militias remain in the field, fearing the groups would target them if they disarmed.

Haaretz's own assessment, cited by Middle East Eye, is stark: that Israel may be creating conditions for local atrocities "reminiscent of the Sabra and Shatila massacre," the 1982 killings carried out by Israeli-allied Lebanese Phalangist militia in Beirut refugee camps under Israeli military oversight.

The militia arrangement is not new; watchdogs and reporters have tracked Israel's use of armed Palestinian factions in Gaza for more than a year. What the soldier testimony adds, according to Haaretz, is direct acknowledgment from within the Israeli military that state forces protect militias they know are committing war crimes.