Palestinian Territory – Israeli forces are employing a local armed gang involved in aid theft, along with foreign mercenaries from a US private security firm, to kill starving Palestinian civilians near food distribution centres in Rafah. These groups are also tasked with inciting chaos and contributing to the systematic destruction of essential services and livelihoods in the Gaza Strip.
Euro-Med Monitor's field team documented Israeli forces, along with members of an armed gang they had formed, opening fire on hundreds of civilians attempting to reach an army-established aid distribution centre west of Rafah. Fourteen Palestinians have been killed so far, reflecting the role of these gangs as enforcers of a policy of mass killing.
Our team verified the testimonies of over 12 witnesses, several of whom were injured on Monday morning's violence in the Al-Alam area west of Rafah, as civilians tried to obtain food aid.
The 'Abu Shabab Gang' is a local irregular armed force created by the Israeli army, operating under its direct supervision and receiving logistical and weapons support
According to witness testimonies, a crowd of starving civilians headed to the area after receiving news of an aid delivery. They were met by armoured four-wheel-drive military vehicles carrying armed men in uniforms bearing an insignia that included the words 'Palestinian Counter-Terrorism Service' along with a Palestinian flag. This uniform is specific to an armed gang formed by Yaser Abu Shabab, which operates in direct coordination with Israeli forces and controls certain areas.
Meanwhile, gang members ordered civilians to line up, then abruptly told them to disperse, claiming there would be no aid that day. Driven by hunger and desperation, the crowd continued toward the distribution centre, only to be met with a barrage of direct gunfire from the Israeli-commanded gang, resulting in civilian casualties. When the brother of one wounded man objected to the shooting, he was also shot at close range and likely killed on the spot.
As tensions escalated and the armed gang lost control, its members retreated toward Israeli military positions. Israeli forces then intervened, joining them in random and direct gunfire using military vehicles, quadcopters, and Apache helicopters. The assault forcibly dispersed the crowd, killed at least 14 civilians, and injured dozens more.
Euro-Med Monitor received credible information that a foreign mercenary employed by the US security company overseeing the aid distribution centre shot and killed a civilian. Tear gas was also repeatedly used to disperse aid seekers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has explicitly acknowledged the formation of an armed tribal militia known as the 'Abu Shabab Gang' to carry out combat missions in the Gaza Strip. Our data indicates that this gang is also involved in looting aid, including UN trucks, through armed robberies conducted under the protection of Israeli quadcopters. The stolen goods are then transported to Israeli-controlled areas and sold at exorbitant prices.
The repeated involvement of this armed gang is deeply alarming, as it deliberately opens fire on civilian crowds at aid distribution centres and along truck routes, resulting in deaths and injuries, including among women and children, in gruesome scenes that reveal Israel's transformation of the hunger crisis into a systematic tool for mass killing.
Members of the US private security company operating within Israeli-imposed aid distribution centres in the Gaza Strip engage in combat operations against civilians and carry out field missions in direct coordination with the Israeli military, which provides them with weapons, equipment, and operational orders on the ground.
Given the nature of their role, their participation in hostilities outside their home countries and on behalf of a foreign military force may qualify them as 'mercenaries' under the 1989 International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries, which explicitly prohibits such involvement.
Additionally, the 'Abu Shabab Gang' is a local irregular armed force created by the Israeli army, operating under its direct supervision and receiving logistical and weapons support. The gang conducts security and field operations that help enforce control over the population, including dispersing crowds, blocking access to aid, and committing acts of violence and killings against civilians.
Although members of this group are residents of the Gaza Strip, the nature of their operational coordination with the Israeli army renders Israel legally responsible for their actions. As the occupying power, Israel is bound by the Fourth Geneva Convention to protect the civilian population and prevent its agents from committing violations against them.
The Israeli authorities' authorisation of foreign actors, including private military contractors and local armed groups such as the 'Abu Shabab Gang,' to operate inside the Gaza Strip under their direct supervision or in coordination with them does not absolve Israel of legal responsibility; it reinforces and deepens it.
Under international humanitarian law, an occupying power remains responsible for all acts committed within territories under its effective control, whether by official forces or by irregular entities acting with its authorisation or with its explicit or tacit consent.
This responsibility extends to all serious violations committed by these actors, including extrajudicial killings, the deliberate denial of humanitarian aid, the use of starvation as a method of warfare, and the use of mercenaries in hostile acts against the civilian population. Furthermore, Israel's authorisation of local groups to carry out security and combat missions against civilians, while providing them with weapons, air support, and coordinated movement, constitutes a dangerous pattern of violations for which Israel bears direct responsibility.
Israeli practices are not isolated violations, but part of a systematic policy aimed at dismantling the social structure of the Gaza Strip and expanding impunity by outsourcing violence to external and local actors. This calls for immediate action by the international community to ensure accountability for these grave and complex crimes.
An immediate and independent international investigation must be launched into the grave crimes committed by members of the 'Abu Shabab Gang' and foreign mercenaries working with the US private security company. Those involved must be prosecuted before the competent international judiciary or under national jurisdictions, whether through regional mandates or the principle of universal jurisdiction, given the severity of the crimes committed.
Euro-Med Monitor calls for the US security company to be added to the list of entities complicit in international crimes, and for a ban on its contracting with any international or governmental agency.
The Palestinian Authority must clearly and decisively state its position on the gang, which has repeatedly claimed coordination with parties within the Authority. A transparent internal investigation must be launched to examine any potential coordination between gang members and officials in the Authority, and legal action must be taken against anyone found to be involved in or complicit with violations against civilians.
All states, both individually and collectively, must fulfil their legal responsibilities by taking urgent action to stop the genocide in the Gaza Strip, through implementing effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians; ensuring Israel's compliance with international law and the decisions of the International Court of Justice; preventing the implementation of the US-Israeli forced displacement plan; and holding Israel and its more powerful allies accountable for all crimes against the Palestinians in the Strip. The International Criminal Court must implement the arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and Minister of Defence at the earliest opportunity, in accordance with the principle that there is no immunity for international crimes.
The international community must also impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel and its allies, particularly the United States, for such grave violations of international law. These sanctions should include arms embargoes; a ban on the export and import of parts, software, and dual-use goods; an end to all political, financial, and military support; freezing the assets of officials involved in crimes against Palestinians and imposing travel bans on these officials; suspending the operations of Israeli and US military and security companies in international markets and freezing their assets; and suspending trade privileges and bilateral agreements that provide Israel and the US with economic benefits that enable their continued crimes against the Palestinian people.
