Hamas’s worst fear takes shape in Gaza City - analysis
Israel’s daring capture of Hamas’s internal security chief, reportedly aided by anti-Hamas militias, exposes a humiliating vulnerability and the growing threat of revolt from within
The daring operation in Gaza City on Tuesday morning, in which IDF and Shin Bet special forces captured Hamas’s Internal Security chief in broad daylight and took him to Israel for interrogation, is a humiliating security failure for Hamas.
Israeli forces got to Mueen Al-Arabid at his Gaza City hideout, and apprehended him rather than kill him, despite his reported injuries sustained during the exchange of fire between his bodyguards and Israeli troops.
He is currently receiving medical treatment in Israel.
But Israel didn’t pull this off by itself. What unfolded in Al Katibeh, west of Gaza City, was a rare — but not first of its kind — cooperation between IDF southern command and anti-Hamas militias.
By the way, among Al-Arabid’s many responsibilities as head of Hamas internal security is to monitor and target anti-Hamas militias operating in Gaza. He’s also in charge of preventing such Israeli operations inside the Strip, adding insult to injury.
This is the scenario Hamas fears most. Like the IRGC in Iran, they feel they can sustain Israeli bombardment, regardless of the damage it may cause. It’s the internal uprising that really has them spooked.
In the slow and uncertain implementation of Gaza’s Board of Peace plan to disarm Hamas, Israel will have to maintain vigilant monitoring of Hamas’s activity. And what better way to achieve that than by having more boots on the ground, a real lay of the land, and a shared loathing to Hamas.