IDF soldiers in counter-tunnel training. (Yuval Caspi/IDF Spokesperson)
Information obtained during the investigation of a terrorist from Gaza confirms that Hamas abuses Palestinian civilians and is preparing for another major offensive against Israel.
Israel’s security forces arrested a prominent participant in Hamas’ tunnel-digging operation and obtained “considerable information” during his investigation, the Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) revealed Wednesday.
The Hamas terrorist, Bilal Razaineh, 24, a resident of the Gaza Strip, was detained in November after crossing the border into Israel. He is the brother of Mustafa Razaineh, head of Hamas’s internal security organization in northern Gaza.
The majority of Bilal’s activities in Hamas’ service were in the field of terror-tunnel digging and assisting his brother.
He divulged “considerable information” on the outlines of tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip in particular, as well as on Hamas’ tunneling operations in general, and revealed that a tunnel had been dug under his family home, which branches into many other tunnels and also serves as a storage area for war materials.
Bilal also provided facts about various Hamas positions, his role as a Hamas sniper and other Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist activities.
During Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, his brother and other senior Hamas operatives hid in the Kamal Adwan hospital in the Gaza Strip, and from there and other civilian residences they directed the fighting. At the time, Bilal acted as a courier and passed messages between his brother and other senior Hamas operatives.
“The information gained about Hamas’ use of civilian structures in order to advance terrorist operations is an additional example of the repeated violation of international law by Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist organizations,” the Shin Bet stated.
Likewise, the agency noted that the information obtained during Bilal’s investigation, as well as from other Hamas terrorists who were recently arrested, underscores “the great efforts that Hamas invests” in preparing itself for another military clash with Israel.
Bilal was indicted on Wednesday in Be’er Sheva’s District Court and charged with membership and activity in a banned organization and weapons offenses.
Hamas has built a sophisticated network of tunnels used to penetrate Israel in order to carry out terror attacks against civilians and soldiers and to smuggle goods and weapons in and out of Gaza through the Sinai Peninsula.
The IDF destroyed most of the tunnels during Operation Protective Edge, but Hamas has since been working vigorously to rebuild the network. The IDF has exposed several of them.
By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News
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