Netanyahu says Israel has ‘activated’ some Palestinian clans in Hamas fight

Israelis attend a rally supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel has “activated” some local clans of Palestinians in Gaza in the fight against Hamas.

In a video posted to his X account, Mr Netanyahu said the government made the move on the advice of “security officials”, in order to save lives of Israeli soldiers.

The announcement came hours after a political opponent criticised him for arming unofficial groups of Palestinians in Gaza.