On August 12, 1976, after Christian militias supported by Israel entered the Tel al-Zatar Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, they massacred approximately 1,500 residents. Some of the victims’ bodies were mutilated, and women were raped. The previous year, these militias had fired machine guns and artillery at Muslim neighborhoods in Beirut and Palestinian refugee camps. Residents were kidnapped from the streets or at checkpoints, murdered, and disappeared; some of the bodies were later found dumped, dismembered, and sometimes marked with a cross. This history of sectarian violence could be repeated in Gaza and must be prevented.Despite Israel’s deadly history of supporting militias in Lebanon, prime minister Netanyahu is pursuing a similar policy in the Gaza Strip.As early as May 17, 2024, Haaretz reported that Netanyahu had indicated his willingness to discuss transferring civil authority in the Gaza Strip to “local entities not affiliated with Hamas.” The report noted that Israel’s security establishment was considering the urgent supply of pistols to clan leaders in Gaza for “self-defense.” Later, on September 17, 2025, Haaretz reported – based on testimonies from Israeli soldiers and commanders serving in Gaza – that the IDF and the Shin Bet security service were using Gaza-based militias, including members of the Abu Shabab family, to carry out military operations in exchange for pay and control over territory in the enclave.On January 24, 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel was backing new Gaza-based militias to fight Hamas and providing them with “extensive” drone air support, as well as sharing intelligence, arms, and food.By using militias, Israel is attempting to project the false facade that it is not violating the ceasefire, while absolving itself of responsibility for actions carried out by local forces. In reality, however, Netanyahu is sabotaging President Trump’s plan – catering to his political base and far-right allies in an election year. They see Trump’s plan as a de facto return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip, laying the groundwork for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state. This comes after years in which Netanyahu-led governments actively shaped and entrenched the governing split between the West Bank and Gaza, while leveraging that division with the international community as a pretext for claiming that progress in diplomatic negotiations was impossible.Israel’s policy could spark a civil war in the Gaza Strip, or at the very least trigger serious violence between local clans, gangs, and the remnants of Hamas and other armed groups – further worsening the suffering of Gazan civilians and deepening the humanitarian crisis in the Strip.It is also important to recall that Israel has already conducted a similar, failed, and deadly experiment in Lebanon, supporting so-called “manageable” strongmen. This included Bachir Gemayel, who led the far-right Christian militias known as the Phalanges, and Saad Haddad, who headed the South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia.Both militias received weapons, training, and funding from Israel, and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, carrying out a series of massacres during the Lebanese civil war (1975–1990) and, in the case of the SLA, continuing until the end of Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000. The most notorious massacre was perpetrated by the Phalanges in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in 1982. Notably, Haddad’s militia was responsible for killing around 70 civilians – including women and children – who had taken refuge in a mosque in the village of Khiam in 1978.The Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut, chaired by Supreme Court President Yitzhak Kahan, wrote in its report that during the civil war “multiple massacres were committed by the various forces that participated in the war operations… each massacre was followed by acts of revenge of a similar nature… there were reports of murders of women and children.” The former head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Yehoshua Sagi, testified before the committee that “they murdered all the time.” The committee concluded that “the fear of the massacre in the camps, if armed forces of the Phalanges were brought in there, without actual and effective supervision and control on the part of the IDF, should have arisen in everyone who had a hand in what was happening in Lebanon,” and therefore assigned “indirect responsibility” for the massacre to senior Israeli officials.The same atrocities could erupt in Gaza if Netanyahu is not stopped. As in Lebanon, Israel cannot fully control how militias use the training, weapons, and funds it provides – ostensibly against Hamas – leaving them free to settle scores with rivals or among themselves. Even with day-to-day oversight, after flattening the Strip, killing tens of thousands, and starving the population, Israel cannot be trusted to protect Gazans from internal massacres and atrocities. On the contrary, Netanyahu’s interest appears to be driving Gaza into a state of civil war.This would not only repeat Israel’s deadly and criminal policies in Lebanon, in violation of the Kahan Commission’s conclusions, but also reflect the international community’s negligence, as the world repeatedly abandons Gaza’s civilians.Eitay Mack is an Israeli human rights lawyer who has filed petitions to the Supreme Court that helped reveal details of Israel’s involvement in Lebanon.