An investigative report by the Israeli website Mako, citing sources within the Israeli occupation army, revealed that Hamas has seized dozens of vehicles, weapons, and large sums of money that the occupation had supplied to certain collaborating groups inside Gaza.
According to the report, since the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has been conducting a security campaign against clans and local groups across the enclave, carrying out numerous arrests and executions—some of which reportedly took place publicly. The report claimed these actions aimed to silence any opposition to clan-based collaboration projects backed by Israel.
An Israeli officer admitted: “It was clear this plan would end in failure, and we’re paying the price for it. Because of political pressure, we’ve been liquidated.”
Occupation officers quoted in the same report confirmed that Hamas had already taken control of at least 45 pickup trucks, hundreds of Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns, projectile ammunition, and even hand grenades, in addition to the money transferred from Israel to those collaborating groups.
One Israeli military source confessed, “We helped Hamas build up its power.” He added: “There was strong opposition to this entire plan—it was obvious the war would end, and everything we supplied to Gaza would ultimately fall into Hamas’s hands.”
Despite internal objections, the Israeli army followed political directives to continue this policy, described by one officer as “a foolish plan that only a blind man couldn’t see where it was leading.”
Israel’s Failed Strategy in Gaza
The Mako report further explained that Israel’s strategy in Gaza involved maintaining contact with major clans throughout the Strip in an attempt to create an alternative to Hamas’s authority. The first clan Israel tried to empower was the Yasser Abu Shabab clan in Rafah, but the plan was quickly exposed, with similar groups uncovered in Khan Younis, Gaza City, and other regions.
The discussions, according to Israeli sources, were based on the “South Lebanon Army” model—the same failed approach Israel used before its 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Back then, equipment supplied by Israel—including weapons, tanks, armoured vehicles, and large financial sums—ended up in Hezbollah’s hands after the occupation’s defeat.
The same scenario, the report stated, is now repeating itself in Gaza. From the very first day of the ceasefire, Hamas launched strong attacks against those collaborator groups, capturing the equipment and resources that Israel had delivered to them.
Occupation’s Strategic Collapse
Security officials cited by the report warned that it is only a matter of time before Hamas gains control of additional weapon stockpiles, as long as the Israeli withdrawal continues in accordance with the ceasefire terms—up to the borders of the so-called “buffer zone.”
The unfolding situation once again underscores the repeated failure of the Israeli occupation’s intelligence and strategy in dealing with Palestinian resistance.
Instead of weakening Hamas, the occupation’s actions have, by its own admission, strengthened the movement both militarily and financially, exposing the deep confusion and miscalculation at the heart of Israeli decision-making.
