Israel has 'activated' 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.

Some local Palestinian families in Gaza are known to have arms and often wield some control in parts of the territory.

In the past, before and during the war, some have had clashes or tensions with Hamas.

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An Israeli official said that one of the groups that Mr Netanyahu was referring to was the so-called Abu Shabab group.

In recent weeks, the Abu Shabab group announced online that its fighters were helping protect aid shipments to the new distribution mechanism backed by Israel in southern Gaza.

The UK backed a UN Security Council resolution calling for Israel to lift restrictions on aid, but the move was vetoed by Donald Trump’s US.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called for the restoration of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of the remaining hostages being held by the group.

At the UN late on Wednesday, the US vetoed the proposed resolution demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza because it was not linked to the release of hostages.

It also did not condemn Hamas over the October 7 2023 atrocities or insist that the militant group must disarm and withdraw from Gaza — two other demands from the Trump administration.

The UK was among the 14 other members of the 15-nation council to vote in favour of the resolution, which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” and called on Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid to the 2.1 million Palestinians in the territory.

Sir Keir told reporters during a visit to a school in Harlow: “In relation to what’s happening in Gaza, we’ve been absolutely clear that it is intolerable and we need to get back to a ceasefire urgently and that is our constant work with other allies to get us to that position.

“We need those hostages to come out, many of them have been held for a very long time.

“And of course, humanitarian aid needs to get in at speed and at volume, but that can only happen if we get back to a ceasefire so I’m absolutely clear that the situation as it is is utterly intolerable, and that’s why we’ve taken measures like the trading talks have been stood down, the sanctions we’ve put in and we’re working with allies to see what else we can do.”