Undercover operatives from the Israeli Security Agency, known as the Shin Bet, embedded themselves as aid workers in the Gaza Strip to gather intelligence prior to capturing Mu’in al-Arabid, Hamas’s head of internal security, according to a report by KAN News. The operation marks a high-level detention deep inside the territory.
Deception and Humanitarian Cover in Gaza Markets
According to the KAN News report, Israeli operatives established several small humanitarian aid projects to sell wares such as food and drink to unsuspecting market stall-owners in Gaza. By building relationships with these local vendors, the undercover agents enlisted Gazans to monitor the movements of specific individuals, including al-Arabid.
Sources cited by KAN News stated that the local vendors only realized they had assisted the Shin Bet after al-Arabid was already captured. One day prior to the operation, Shin Bet personnel reportedly replaced their Gazan customers at the market stalls, hid their weapons underneath, and subsequently grabbed their gear to flee when the raid commenced. Operatives were physically present in the market area for only a day or two before the strike, relying primarily on relationships built over preceding months.
Diverging Claims Over the Official’s Rank and Importance
Following the operation, Israeli leadership and Hamas offered conflicting accounts of al-Arabid’s rank and organizational value. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that al-Arabid played a major role in managing the hiding locations of more than 250 Israeli hostages captured after October 7, 2023, according to coverage by The Jerusalem Post.
Conversely, a Palestinian source in Gaza told The Jerusalem Post that the detainee was strictly in charge of Hamas’s internal security department specifically for the Gaza City area, characterizing him as a mid-level official rather than a top-tier leader. The official statements released jointly by the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet positioned the official’s importance somewhere between these opposing claims.
On-the-Ground Coordination and Retaliation Risks
Reporting from The Jerusalem Post and foreign outlets indicated that anti-Hamas Gaza gangs operated at the center of the raid, backed by IDF and Shin Bet support. Meanwhile, Hamas asserted that the operation involved a two-month deception campaign, utilizing drones and tranquilizer ammunition during a firefight that resulted in family injuries, according to translations of KAN News coverage by baba News.
Palestinian sources told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas has sought to downplay the incident while its internal security forces actively pursue militias backed by Israel within the territory.
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