Hamas claims it nabbed official who betrayed top commander
Gaza-based terror organization says that information leaked to Israel led to airstrike on Muhammad Deif last summer
A digger removes cement and debris on August 20, 2014, of a home destroyed the night before in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, targeting the elusive Hamas military chief Muhammad Deif (photo credit: AFP/Mohammed Abed)
A senior Hamas official has been arrested in Gaza for
allegedly disclosing information to Israel on the whereabouts of Muhammad Deif,
the elusive commander of the terror group’s military wing, during the war in
Gaza last summer
Israeli intelligence sources believe that Deif was likely
killed in an August 19, 2014, airstrike in Gaza City during Operation
Protective Edge, a claim that Hamas has repeatedly denied, although Gaza-based
officials have confirmed the deaths of Deif’s wife and two of his children in
the strike.
A senior official in the terror group who was one of Deif’s close associates, Muhammad Rashid Shitawi, was apprehended by Hamas on Sunday and questioned in connection with the allegations, Channel 2 reported.
According to Hamas, Shitawi received a phone call from Deif on August 19, at the height of the war, who asked him to bring his family to Shitawi’s house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza city.
Hamas military wing commander Muhammad Deif
After Shitawi, whom Hamas alleged was an agent of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, acquiesced to Deif’s request, he immediately contacted his handlers and informed them of Deif’s precise location.
That enabled Israel to launch the airstrike that killed Deif’s family members and possibly Deif himself.
Shitwai was also being investigating for a bungled weapons sale to the terror group Islamic Jihad, Hamas said in a statement.
Deif has been wanted by Israel since the early 1990s for allegedly orchestrating terror attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis. Israeli officials believe he was coordinating Hamas’s movements during the summer’s conflict as head of its military wing.
Three other senior members of the military wing’s command hierarchy were killed in an Israeli strike a day after the attack on Deif’s hideout.
Deif survived at least four previous assassination attempts since 2002, after being appointed military commander following the death of his predecessor, Salah Shehade. Prior to last summer’s strike, he was believed to be paralyzed from previous attempts on his life.
In August, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida vehemently denied that Deif was killed in the strike, noting that Israel was “unable to get to our commander Deif,” who will soon “lead the army that will enter to liberate the holy al-Aqsa mosque” in Jerusalem.
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge in Gaza with the stated intention of curbing Hamas rocket fire on Israeli towns and kibbutzim.
The 50-day conflict between the Jewish state and terrorist groups in Gaza resulted in the deaths of approximately 2,200 Palestinians — Israel contends that half were combatants, while the Palestinians say that most were civilians — and 72 people on the Israeli side, including 64 soldiers.
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment