Israel Extracts Hamas Bigwig From Gaza With Help From Palestinian Militia

In a daring military operation conducted in Gaza by the Israeli Defense Forces in cooperation with a Palestinian faction inside the strip, a senior Hamas terrorist was captured and brought to Israel for interrogation. A top commander of Hamas’s internal security apparatus, Muin al-Arabid, is in Israeli hands and is being interrogated after a complex Tuesday morning raid at Gaza City. “We do not wait for threats, we pursue Hamas terrorists, thwart them, and destroy their terror infrastructure,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said on a visit to the Gaza border. Synergy between Israel and militias in the strip highlights the Gaza population’s growing anger at the oppressive and cruel Hamas activities. The terrorist group’s theft of foreign aid meant for civilians, public humiliation and violence against real and perceived dissidents, and self-enrichment at the expense of ordinary Gazans. Mr. Arabid is one of Hamas’s “most senior figures,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday. He “was responsible for hiding and moving our hostages, hiding senior Hamas officials, force build-up, and attempting to restore the capabilities of the terror organization.”Palestinian and Israeli sources say one of Mr. Arabid’s tasks was to identify and assault Gazans who are aligned with Israel, making him a target for anti-Hamas Palestinians. “Everybody in Gaza is angry at Hamas,” a veteran Arab affairs watcher in Israel, Yoni Ben Menachem, tells The New York Sun. “There are six militias in Gaza that cooperate with Israel. They get involved with the population, help Gazans get by, identify and point out the location of Hamas tunnels, and recruit locals to cooperate with Israel.”The Tuesday extraction of Mr. Arabid out of Gaza was an hours-long complex military operation, carried out under the IDF Southern Command in tandem with local militias at Gaza City, Ynet reports. The Hamas commander was captured by special IDF units and Israel’s internal security, Shabak, the two security bodies said in a joint statement. A video posted on X shows a windowless white van, reportedly carrying a special unit, speeding in Gaza City alleys. The force was reportedly discovered by Hamas fighters. As a firefight ensued, Israeli helicopters and drones were deployed to aid fighters on the ground. Mr. Arabid was injured before he was taken outside the strip and handed over to the Shabak.The IDF is currently intensifying its deadly hunt for all Hamas operatives who were involved in the October 7, 2023, massacre that launched the war. Israeli sources see Mr. Arabid as a “treasure” trove of intelligence about Gaza who could provide deep insight into Hamas’s activities. A risky operation to bring him for interrogation was therefore preferable to killing him from the air, as is done in other cases. Recently Mr. Arabid “was engaged in efforts to restore Hamas’s governance in Gaza, in deception regarding the issue of demilitarizing the strip, and assisted in carrying out terror attacks against our forces and our civilians,” Mr. Netanyahu said.Washington and the multinational Board of Peace have urged Israel to keep military operations in Gaza to a minimum while Hamas claims to disarm. At the same time, Israel has a wide berth to conduct raids in self defense. The Tuesday operation was one of the largest in scope in the last few weeks, following low intensity combat.

Israel Extracts Hamas Bigwig From Gaza With Help From Palestinian Militia

Israel Extracts Hamas Bigwig From Gaza With Help From Palestinian Militia

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