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Hamas defector providing priceless intelligence, report says

Information being handed over to Israel on leaders’ movements and missile storage sites is causing panic in the terror group’s senior echelon.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The senior Hamas commander who defected to Israel last week after being exposed as a spy for the Jewish state is providing a treasure trove of information to the security services, Al-Arabiya reported Tuesday.

The report, quoted by Channel 12, said that the as-yet-unnamed head of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades’ naval commando unit has reportedly provided intelligence on the movements of the highest echelon of the terrorist group.

He has also mapped out the locations of missile storage sites, training bases, and hiding places of senior Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip, the sources told the Dubai-based Saudi news outlet.

The commander’s escape on an Israeli naval vessel set off a swift chain of events within the terror organization. Several military and political officials have moved out of their homes, and a number of senior security personnel have been fired, said the sources.

The getaway coincided with a wave of arrests of other members of the al-Qassam Brigades on charges of espionage for Israel. One name that has already been revealed is that of Mahmoud Amar Abu Ajawa, whom Palestinian sources cited in Al-Arabiya as being responsible for “everything related to technical matters for the Qassam Brigades.”

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As a major in the internal security department, they said, he also trained counter-espionage agents and investigated suspected collaborators with Israel. Hamas is accusing him of having been an Israeli agent since 2009.

Others caught up in the security sweep so far include the heads of the electronics, telecommunications, and security training and data collection units, they said.

According to the report, much of Hamas’ technical infrastructure is now being rapidly changed after the commander’s escape with what Arabic news site Amad said was a laptop full of “dangerous classified information” on communications equipment, Hamas’ network of security cameras, phone numbers, and maps.

Hamas’ naval commando unit is considered a highly trained, elite force that is difficult to enter, let alone rise to its top. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has reportedly asked to be personally updated regarding the ongoing investigation.

Israel has so far kept mum over the entire affair.