As Israel’s war in Gaza has continued to drag on, one of the latest controversies to have emerged is the claim that Israel is supporting ‘ISIS-affiliated gangs’ or ‘ISIS-linked gangs’ in Gaza as a counterweight to Hamas, with the claim making rounds among Israelis, Palestinians and the wider body of international observers and pundits on the war. For example, Israeli leftist Dimi Reider recently tweeted, relying on statements made by Avigdor Liberman (whose party stands in opposition to Netanyahu’s ruling coalition): “BREAKING…Netanyahu CONFIRMS Israel has been *running* ISIS-affiliated crime gangs in Gaza.” Similarly, popular pundit Mehdi Hasan wrote (responding to John Spencer, who has defended Israel’s military campaign) : “There you have it: [Spencer] who is obsessed with Hamas is fine with arming ISIS-related gangs.”
But is there good evidence to support these claims?
Islamic State has consistently emphasized that fighting or operating under nationalist banners constitutes a forbidden deviation from the true way of war against Israel embodied in Islamic monotheism and framing the conflict exclusively in religious terms.
The claims primarily focus around an armed anti-Hamas militia in southern Gaza called the ‘Popular Forces’ and led by one Yaser Abu Shabab, reasonably suspected of being supported or at least tolerated by Israel. The same group also calls itself the ‘Counter-Terrorism Apparatus.’ But even a cursory glance at the group’s labelling and media output throws the claims of an Islamic State affiliation (which would mean declaring allegiance to the Islamic State’s ‘caliph’) or an Islamic State link severely into doubt. For example, the group’s logo clearly invokes nationalist imagery that is completely unacceptable to the Islamic State, most notably in the use of the Palestinian national flag.
Similarly one can observe the Palestinian flag on the outfits of members of the group as advertised in its propaganda (see below on a recent video advertising ‘return’ to eastern Rafah and distribution of aid).
One could argue that the group’s imagery and rhetoric might be a cover to hide an Islamic State affiliation or link just as the group’s imagery and rhetoric might disguise support the group receives from Israel. But there is no reason to think that such an ‘undercover’ approach is permissible for the Islamic State, which has consistently emphasised that fighting or operating under nationalist banners constitutes a forbidden deviation from the true way of war against Israel embodied in Islamic monotheism and framing the conflict exclusively in religious terms.
Moreover, assuming the group receives support from Israel, then such behaviour for the Islamic State is also unacceptable and constitutes a ‘nullifier’ of Islam, because while Hamas is deemed an ‘apostate’ group by Islamic State, the group’s actions can also be perceived as collaborating more broadly with Israel to the detriment of the interests of the broader Muslim population of Gaza (which the Islamic State considers to be Muslims and not ‘apostates’ from Islam). In other words, Yaser Abu Shabab’s group would also be considered to have ‘nullified’ its claimed affiliation with Islam and fallen into ‘apostasy’ for aiding non-Muslims (Jews of Israel) against Muslims (the people of Gaza).
This is very far removed from the notion that Israel is supporting ‘ISIS-affiliated gangs’ in Gaza—a concept primarily being driven by discourse within Israeli politics and then amplified and repeated on social media without proper investigation.
In so far as one can make sense of the claim about Israel working with ‘ISIS-affiliated gangs,’ it primarily stems from a broader ‘guilt by association’ line of reasoning (to borrow a phrase from journalist Matthew Petti) based on the activities of some members of the clans from which Yaser Abu Shabab’s militia has recruited or appealed to and which have been at odds with Hamas historically. For example, Yaser Abu Shabab is himself said to be from the Tarabin clan that has a presence in both Gaza and Sinai. While some members of this clan may have been involved in prior Islamic State-aligned jihadist opposition to Hamas in Gaza, the fact is that it is difficult to generalise about clans’ positions. For instance, in the Sinai region, at least some members of the Tarabin cooperated with the Egyptian military against the Islamic State insurgency there (which still nominally exists as the group’s ‘Sinai province’ but has been virtually defunct since the beginning of 2023).
In addition, in a recent post, Ghassan Azeiz Duhine (who is linked to Yaser’s group) appeared to make an appeal for the al-Dayri and Daghmash clans to unite, and “not let the enemies take delight in our misfortunes.” Some members of the Daghmash clans have been involved with the small Gazan jihadist group Jaysh al-Islam, which has kept a low profile since 7 October but is known for its support for Islamic State. It may also be that some members of Yaser’s militia have a Salafi background and/or had links to smuggling to and from the Sinai region.
But all of this is very far removed from the notion that Israel is supporting ‘ISIS-affiliated gangs’ in Gaza—a concept primarily being driven by discourse within Israeli politics and then amplified and repeated on social media without proper investigation. One could criticise Yaser Abu Shabab’s militia as a criminal outfit and see Israeli support for it and similar groups as very bad policy, but the notion of some sort of Islamic State-Israel collaboration to counter Hamas is not supported by good evidence. In fact, the Islamic State’s own position towards Israel is abundantly clear: namely, that it is an illegitimate entity that is usurping Muslim land and must be destroyed. While the Islamic State broadly prioritises dismantling ‘apostate’ entities that surround Israel, the group has also repeatedly called for attacks on Jews and Israelis worldwide in a bid to show support for Gaza and Palestine.
Documents referenced in this article are available in the original Substack version.
Published originally on June 6, 2025.
