Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes Hamas. Meanwhile, four Israeli soldiers died in what the media reported was a Gaza blast.
Palestinians have marked the Muslim Eid al-Adha amid severe destruction and a dire humanitarian crisisImage: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo/picture allianceIsrael faces shortage of over 10,000 soldiers, says army
The Israeli army is short of more than 10,000 troops, including around 6,000 for combat units, its spokesperson has said, nearly 20 months into the war with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
“This is a real operational need, and that is why we are taking all necessary measures,” army spokesperson Effie Defrin told a Friday press briefing via video from the Gaza Strip.
Defrin was responding to a question about the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox Jews, who had been exempt from military service for decades. Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in June last year that the country’s compulsory military service system should apply to ultra-Orthodox men, in a highly controversial decision.
Four Israeli soldiers reportedly killed in Gaza blast
Four Israeli soldiers have been killed and five others injured during an operation in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military says.
The incident took place in the city of Khan Younis. According to consistent reports from Israeli media, the soldiers were inside a building that had been rigged with explosives.
The device detonated, causing the building to collapse.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended his condolences “to the families of our four fallen heroes in Gaza in the fight to defeat Hamas and bring back our hostages.”
The deaths bring the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza to 429, as per a tally by the French AFP news agency.
Netanyahu admits Israel backed Gaza clan opposed to Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes Hamas, following claims by a former defense minister that weapons were supplied to the faction.
Israeli and Palestinian media have identified the group as part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab. The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) describes him as heading a “criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks.”
Former defense minister and Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman told public broadcaster Kan that Israel, under Netanyahu’s orders, had been “giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons.”
Netanyahu confirmed the collaboration in a video posted online Thursday, saying: “What did Lieberman leak? That security sources activated a clan in Gaza that opposes Hamas? What is bad about that? It is only good, it is saving [the] lives of Israeli soldiers.”
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/netanyahu-admits-israel-backed-anti-hamas-gaza-clan/live-72810185
