Israel 'operated clans' in Gaza, Netanyahu says, after being accused of arming Palestinian militias

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has "operated clans" in Gaza in a video published on social media Thursday after an opposition leader accused him of arming Palestinian militias in order to bolster opposition to Hamas.
When asked about the allegations made by Avigdor Lieberman, leader of one of the opposition parties in the Knesset and a former defence minister, and whether he made them for political gain, Netanyahu said:.
"What did Lieberman leak? ... That with the advice of security forces, we have operated clans in Gaza who oppose Hamas. What's wrong with that? It is only good. It only saves IDF soldiers' lives."
In the video posted on his Facebook and X accounts, Netanyahu said releasing details of Israel's actions is "benefiting only Hamas," according to a translation of the original Hebrew from Reuters.
In the wake of Lieberman's comments, The Times of Israel reported that Israel had transferred weapons to Yasser Abu Shabab, a leader of a large clan in the Rafah area that is among those accused of looting humanitarian aid. Rafah is now under full Israeli army control. The reported cited a defence source.
The New York Times reported similar details citing two Israeli officials close to the matter who told the paper that Israeli authorities had provided "support, including weapons, to Yasser Abu Shabab."
Abu Shabab denies receiving arms from Israel
A few hours after Netanyahu's video was posted on social media, Abu Shabab posted a statement on Facebook in which he claimed Israeli media reports were false and denied that he received weapons from Israel.
"We categorically reject these accusations and consider them a blatant attempt to distort the image of a grassroots force born from suffering—one that stood up to injustice, looting, and corruption," the statement read.
It went on to say that the weapons his group does use are from the "support of our own people." Abu Shabab said his clan would never be "a tool of the occupation" and called on Israel to present evidence to Palestinian people and the media.
Abu Shabab previously said that he was building up a force to secure aid deliveries into some parts of Gaza.
Aid sites shuttered on Friday
Meanwhile, aid distribution in Gaza was halted on Friday after the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations in the latest disruption to its troubled relief effort.
With severe food shortages plaguing the coastal enclave, fighting continued in many areas of the Gaza Strip.
Local health authorities said 16 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes, mostly in northern Gaza, while the Israeli army said four of its soldiers were killed and five were wounded by an explosion in a building in Khan Younis to the south.
WATCH | GHF aid sites close due to 'safety concerns':
Gaza aid group closes distribution centres over safety concerns
8 hours ago
Duration 3:33
Ten Palestinians were killed by Israeli tank fire in Gaza on Friday, local health authorities said, as a U.S.- and Israeli-backed group handing out aid in the enclave said all its distribution sites were closed until further notice.
In a day of confusing messaging, the GHF first announced its distribution sites in southern Gaza were closed then it revealed that it had actually handed out food, before saying that it had had to close its gates as a precautionary measure.
"The distribution was conducted peacefully and without incident; however, it was paused due to excessive crowding that made it unsafe to proceed," it said in a statement.
As Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam's most important holidays, Eid al-Adha, Israeli forces continued military operations that they say are needed to root out and destroy Hamas militants.
The Israeli military said four soldiers were killed in a booby-trapped building, which brought the army death toll to eight since the start of June.
Eid prayers held amid rubble
The army earlier issued new evacuation orders for areas in and around Gaza City, warning of an imminent attack.
With many residential areas of Gaza reduced to rubble by months of fighting, locals held Eid al-Adha prayer services in the open, next to bombed-out mosques and homes.
"As you can see, we are holding Eid prayers, while the bombing, shelling and planes are ongoing," said Umm Mahmoud in Khan Younis.
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution that the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral.
It suspended operations on Wednesday and asked the Israeli military to review security protocols after hospital officials said more than 80 people had been shot dead and hundreds wounded near distribution points between June 1 and 3.
After the two-month ceasefire broke down in March, Israel blockaded aid supplies into Gaza for 11 weeks, prompting a famine warning from a global hunger monitor. Israel, which has only partially lifted the blockade since, vets all aid into Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing some of it, something the militant group denies.
WATCH l Friend of Weinstein, Haggai relieved family gets 'peace of mind':
Israel has re-intensified an offensive against Gaza's dominant Hamas militant group since breaking a two-month-old ceasefire in March in a war triggered by the cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, led by Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by several countries including Canada.
The initial attacks killed 1,200 people in Israel, including several Canadian citizens.
Some 251 hostages were also taken, with around a couple dozen believed still alive, according to the Israeli government. While many of the remaining were freed in periodic prisoner exchanges, the bodies of other hostages have been repatriated, including Canadian citizen Judih Weinstein and her husband just this week.
Israel's military campaign in response to those attacks has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

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Canada News.Net

24 minutes ago

• Canada News.Net

New global order taking shape as international law takes back seat

Western support for Israel's right to strike Iran backs up a pattern of "pre-emptive" violence that critics say is further eroding international law and the rules-based order put in place in the wake of World War II, ushering in a "law of the jungle" in which might takes precedence over right – with dire consequences for global stability and co-operation. 19/06/2025 - Modified: By Benjamin Dodman | France24 On October 12, 2023, as Israel and its allies reeled from the carnage wrought just days earlier by Hamas militants in southern Israel, the then Pentagon chief was asked whether Washington would place any conditions on its hugely expanded security assistance to its Middle East ally. Lloyd Austin's answer to reporters was a straightforward "no", based on the assumption that Israel's military would "do the right things" in its war against the Tehran-backed militia. Twenty months on, Israel has flattened Gaza, bombed swathes of Lebanon, seized further territory in Syria, and now launched a direct attack on Iran as it pursues what it describes as an "existential" fight against the Islamic Republic and its allies in the region. Throughout the fighting, its ultra-nationalist leaders have dismissed the mounting evidence of war crimes committed in Gaza, which led the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November 2024. Senior cabinet members have openly advocated the forced removal of Gaza's population, which would amount to a genocidal crime, and the dismemberment of Syria. Netanyahu himself has discussed the possibility of assassinating Iran's head of state and precipitating "regime change" in the Islamic Republic in interviews with US media. Ironically, such rhetoric brings Israel closer in line with the inflammatory bluster typical of its arch-foe Iran – with the important difference that Israel does possess nuclear weapons and a military capable of backing up its increasingly provocative statements. The extraordinary escalation is a "natural consequence of the impunity that has prevailed in the region over the past two years", says H. A. Hellyer, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) in London. "The fact that Israel has faced no consequence for repeatedly infringing international law sends a very clear signal: that if it chooses to do more, it can," he explains. "And it can count on the most powerful actors in the international community simply not doing very much or actually empowering and emboldening it." The most immediate consequence of Israeli impunity in the Middle East is the immense suffering inflicted on civilian populations, nowhere more so than in Gaza, where Israel's ongoing military campaign has killed more 55,000 people, according to local health officials, and rendered the narrow strip of land largely uninhabitable. Another consequence, with more far-reaching implications, is the further erosion of the rules-based order in place since World War II, says Karim Emile Bitar, a Middle East expert at Beirut's Saint-Joseph University and visiting professor at Sciences-Po Paris. "Recent events have driven the final nail into the coffin of international law and of what has been referred to as the liberal international order," he says. "The message to the world is that if might is on your side, you can break all the rules, trample on international law and all the standards that have been in place since 1945, and there will be absolutely no accountability." 'A new Middle East' Netanyahu has described Israel's actions as ushering in a "new Middle East", a phrase that has haunted the region at least since the 2003 Iraq War, when the US and its allies sought to remodel it – with catastrophic consequences. "There has been a lot of jubilation (among critics of Iran), imagining that these are the 'birth pangs' of some sort of new Middle East. On the contrary, this is a spiral of violence, fostered by an environment of impunity that allows for vigilante action to take place without repercussions," says Hellyer. "Nobody needs to be a fan of the Iranian regime, or Hezbollah or Hamas, to see that this activity is incredibly destabilising for regional order and security," he adds. "It also has massive repercussions for international order and international security, because it means that there isn't a rules-based order at all. It becomes the law of the jungle. And that should be quite concerning to all of us." Bitar notes that few people in the Sunni Arab world will be "shedding a tear" for the Iranian regime – "and for good reason, given the disruption and suffering caused by Tehran's regional proxies". However, he adds, "they are also alarmed by an increasingly unbridled Israel, which – unlike Iran – has the means to wipe out entire cities, and whose senior ministers now openly advocate ethnic cleansing in Gaza". An immediate consequence is likely to be a regional arms race to try to narrow the gap with Israel. In Iran's case, analysts point to the likelihood of a fresh push to go nuclear, thereby achieving the exact opposite of the stated goal of Israel's military operation. "Israel's attack is making Iran feel very vulnerable. Their conventional deterrence has failed, and I think we're going to see more and more calls from within the country to pursue nuclear weapons," says Daryl Kimball of the US-based Arms Control Association, noting that contrary to Israeli claims, Western intelligence assessments have so far concluded that Tehran is not currently pushing to militarise its nuclear programme. Kimball says there are already voices in Iran calling for the country to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which prohibits states that don't have nuclear weapons from pursuing them. "Bombing (Iran) simply makes sure they will try a hundred times more because they will assess there is no rules-based order, there is simply the threat of force and mutually assured destruction," adds Hellyer. 'Anticipatory' self-defence The phrase "birth pangs of a new Middle East" was famously used by former US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice to refer to the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, one of many conflicts with roots in the regional upheaval caused by the US invasion of Iraq. "Back then, there was at least a stated aim to promote democracy and human rights in the region, even if it was largely a smokescreen," says Bitar. "Now there is no such pretence. We're back to Bismarckian power politics, in which might precedes right, and a world governed by nationalist authoritarian leaders in the mould of Putin and Trump." In the present climate, he adds, "the dwindling number of people who talk about respect for international law are regarded as hopeless idealists disconnected from reality". While Israel's attack on Iran has drawn condemnation around the world, the messaging from Western leaders has been far more mixed, with talk of Israel's "right to defend itself" often taking precedence over references to international law. Hours after Israel launched the first wave of attacks, French President Emmanuel Macron, whose planned summit on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was scuttled by the outbreak of war, put the blame squarely on Iran and said France stood ready to defend Israel if necessary. Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz went a step further, arguing that Israel was "doing the dirty job for all of us" by taking on in the Iranian regime – prompting outcry in a country where the emphasis is normally on de-escalation. In an op-ed published by the Guardian, Sydney-based international law professor Ben Saul argued that support for Israel's "right to self-defence" had no legal grounding in the present conflict and set a dangerous precedent. He described Israel's attack on Iran as "part of a pattern of unlawful 'anticipatory' violence against other countries", along with its recent destruction of Syrian military bases and equipment, despite "the absence of any attack by the new Syrian authorities on Israel". "The risk of abuse of 'anticipatory' self-defence is simply too great, and too dangerous, for the world to tolerate," Saul wrote, noting that Russia claimed to invade Ukraine"in part because it speculatively feared NATO expansion". He added: "Many countries have hostile relations with other countries. Allowing each country to unilaterally decide when they wish to degrade another country's military, even when they have not been attacked, is a recipe for global chaos – and for the unjustified deaths of many innocent people." 'One pillar of the post-war order is attacking another' In an interview with Middle East Eye, Sir Richard Dalton, a former British ambassador to Tehran, noted that past US administrations had refused to countenance a large-scale Israeli attack on Iran, but that Netanyahu "has obtained more leverage over the US (since Donald Trump's return to power) and Israel is more of a law unto itself". Dalton said other Western countries had been "incredibly limp in not holding Israel to account" for its conduct over the past 20 months, a stance he attributed in part to their growing disregard for international law. "They don't look at the legal issue. They won't look at the circumstances in international law when a pre-emptive strike against a potential enemy is lawful and when it is not," he said. "Israel's strike was an illegal aggression. But we're prepared to talk frankly in those terms about Russia but not about Israel." While Western powers have failed to rein in the violence, the institutions they helped found decades ago to uphold the rules-based order have not sat idle. Since the start of the Gaza war, both the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have moved with urgency, the latter issuing successive rulings last year to warn of the risk of genocide in Gaza and order an end to Israel's military operations in the south of the enclave. Neither court, however, has the capacity to enforce international law if world powers refuse to comply. When the ICC issued its arrest warrant for Netanyahu, former US president Joe Biden described the move as "outrageous". His successor at the White House has gone a step further, issuing an executive order in January to authorise sanctions on the court over its "illegitimate" actions against the US and its "close ally Israel". The Trump administration has also withdrawn the US from several UN bodies and slashed the organisation's funding, creating a situation in which "one pillar of the post-war order is attacking another", according to Brian Brivati, visiting professor of contemporary history and human rights at Kingston University. "The leading founder of the UN is now undermining the institution from within, wielding its security council veto to block action while simultaneously starving the organisation of resources," Brivati wrote on The Conversation earlier this week. "The combination of a powerful state acting with impunity and a superpower disabling the mechanisms of accountability marks a global inflection point," he added. "Other global powers, including Russia and China, are taking this opportunity to move beyond the Western rules-based system." The breakdown of the system could have catastrophic consequences for global stability, warns RUSI's Hellyer, pointing to the need for international rules and co-operation to tackle a host of global challenges. "There will always be new crises and conflicts, not least of which dealing with the climate emergency," he says. "And we need international law and the rules-based order to at least mitigate their consequences." (NOTE: THis article was writen prior to the U.S. attacks on Iran's nuclear sites in the early hours of Sunday morning (Saturday night U.S. time)..

Globe and Mail

an hour ago

• Globe and Mail

As Iranians take shelter or flee, some also hope for the end of a repressive regime

It was 3 a.m. when a deafening noise shattered the silence of homes in the affluent Saadat Abad district in northern Tehran earlier this month. Windows shook. Children woke up crying. Panicked residents ran into the street. Abideh, a mother of two young children, thought their building was collapsing. Everyone was screaming, she said. Explosions kept going off. She ran to the rooftop and saw a nearby building on fire. That was the night of Israel's first attack on the Iranian capital. With her ten-year-old son and six-year-old daughter, Abideh was forced to leave her home and seek shelter with relatives on the outskirts of the city. 'We're basically homeless now. We don't even know where we'll be tomorrow,' Abideh told The Globe and Mail by phone last week. The Globe is using only first names for the Iranians who were interviewed to protect their security at a time of growing unrest. As Israeli air strikes continue to pound the city of almost 10 million, many residents of Tehran have chosen to flee. Long lines at gas stations, skyrocketing food prices, and severe medicine shortages have only worsened the anxiety. Abideh says that the sounds of the attack on her neighbourhood are still alive in her mind. 'My hands shake, my heart races. The fear hasn't left me,' she said. 'Every night, after my kids fall asleep, I sit and think about the future … a future with no sense of safety.' But inside basements, parking garages and other places where people are looking for safety, it's not just fear that echoes, but also voices rooted in decades of pain. Abideh said that in the shelter where she and her family have been staying, there are women praying for the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose regime has executed their sons. 'Some said maybe this war would finally bring down the government,' Abideh said. She hears chants ringing out in the streets, even in the dead of night: 'Death to the dictator!' 'An end to 46 years of tyranny!' Despite their overwhelming fear, Abideh said people are still clinging to hope: 'Hope for change. Hope that maybe all this pain will finally wake people up.' The main cause of the unrest and the current atmosphere of repression, she said, is the Islamic Republic regime, which has spent taxpayers' money on its proxy forces, pushed the country into isolation and ultimately paved the way for a foreign attack. 'The Iranian people do not want war with anyone; rather, they seek peace with all nations — including Israel,' she said. Only way to topple Iran's regime is through popular movement, Shirin Ebadi says Opinion: Regime change in Iran would lead to chaos But fear among the Iranian population is not confined to Tehran. Reza, a 23-year-old international relations student in Isfahan, the country's second-largest metropolitan area, described a city hollowed out by fear, with deserted streets and shuttered stores. 'It's like the city has died. Everyone's afraid. No one knows what's going to happen tomorrow.' For Reza, life has turned into a sleepless nightmare. 'Every moment, I'm waiting for a missile to hit. I can't sleep from the stress,' he told The Globe last week. What haunts him even more is the uncertainty. 'We don't even know what's hidden in our neighbourhoods. Maybe that grey wall near my house is hiding a drone factory. Who knows?' Like Abideh, Reza also speaks of an end — not just to war, but to dictatorship. 'People hate this regime. Without internal co-operation, Israel couldn't have struck so precisely.' He says that now, more than ever, there's a strange, cautious hope among Iranians. 'There are rumours everywhere. That Khamenei is dead. That tomorrow the revolution begins. Even if they're not true, just the fact these rumours spread shows how desperately people want this regime gone.' In streets that just days ago were full of life, silence now dominates. Storefronts are dark. Sirens wail sporadically. Mothers whisper prayers in the shadows. 'Today the roads are empty,' Reza said. 'Shops are closed. People are anxious. Worried about a future they can't see – and don't know will ever come.'

CBC

2 hours ago

• CBC

After U.S. strikes in Iran, Torontonians with family in Iran, Israel worry for loved ones

Social Sharing U.S. strikes on Iran this weekend are reverberating in Toronto, as with some in the city fear for their loved ones in the Middle East while others protested outside the U.S consulate in reaction. On Saturday, the U.S. military attacked key Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, the latest development in an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. Mina Morshed, a Toronto woman who has family in Tehran, told CBC TV's Rosemary Barton Live that her parents and sister are in Tehran and she spoke to them a few days ago. She said she has tried to tell them that they are not alone. "I am worried about my parents, family, friends," Morshed said. WATCH | Iranian Canadian in Toronto worries for family in Tehran after U.S. strikes: Iranian Canadian says she's worried about family, hopes for peace 4 days ago Duration 6:04 Those with family in Israel have similar concerns. Laurent Attali, a Toronto-born Montrealer now living in Etobicoke, said he has been trying for days to get his two daughters and their families, who live near Tel Aviv, out of Israel. He said he bought them two sets of plane tickets that were cancelled by the airlines. Attali said the latest plan is for them to go by bus from Tel Aviv to the Amman airport in Jordan, but it's not a good solution, as Amman is considered hostile to Israelis because of Palestinian supporters who live there. He said he thinks the Canadian government could charter a boat or plane from Israel to get Canadians people out. Now, Attali said he has been glued to the television to figure out where the bombs are being dropped in Tel Aviv to see if the sites are near where his family and friends live. "For us, since that evening, we have been 10 to 15 hours a day [watching] the TV. We are all the time at the TV," he said. Protestors gather outside U.S. consulate Sunday Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered outside the U.S. consulate on Sunday afternoon to protest U.S. military action in Iran. Organizers of the "Hands Off Iran" rally said in a media advisory that the demonstrators condemn Western involvement in the conflict, and are also calling on the Canadian government to sanction Israel and to implement an arms embargo on Israel. Parsa Golesorkhi, an organizer of the rally, said he has been watching his hometown of Tehran get bombed in what he called an "unprovoked, illegal and criminal act of aggression" by Israel and now, the United States. "We are here first of all to condemn this aggression against our people — and we are not just as Iranians, but standing with our allies from different communities, from the Palestinian community, from the Jewish community," Golesorkhi said. Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, based in Toronto, said attacks on Iranian nuclear sites are justified given the danger that they pose to the world. "The Iranian nuclear program poses a threat not just to Israel but to the broader Middle East and indeed the world," he said. "This is a dangerous regime and the world is safer without them having access to nuclear weapons." Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a post on X, said on Sunday that the U.S. military action was "designed to alleviate" threats posed by Iran, but the situation in the Middle East remains "highly volatile." "Stability in the region is a priority," Carney said. "Canada calls on parties to return immediately to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis."