‘Losing bet’: Hebrew media reports failure of armed militias to challenge Hamas in Gaza

Despite months of attempts by Israel to support local armed groups in the Gaza Strip as an alternative to Hamas, growing Israeli media reports indicate that the experiment has failed to achieve its objectives, amid widespread public rejection of these groups and accusations that their members have committed abuses against civilians. In this context, the Hebrew news website Zman Yisrael published a lengthy report concluding that more than 99 per cent of Gaza’s residents still live under Hamas rule, while the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to rely on armed militias that cooperate with the Israeli military despite their limited influence on the ground. The report said these groups had failed to pose a genuine challenge to […]