Arrested Gaza infiltrator Ahmed Magdi Muhamad Abid. Photo courtesy of the ISA
Hamas has tried many times to sneak terrorists into Israel, so it’s a victory when Israel catches them. So imagine the impact when the arrested perpetrator also unveils Hamas secrets on their tunnel system in the interrogation. That’s what happened a couple months ago in newly declassified information from Israel.
Ahmed Magdi Muhamad Abid of Gaza was caught in September crossing the border into Israeli-controlled territory, and it’s a good thing he was snagged. A press release from the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said that Abid had been recruited by Hamas in 2013 and has been trained in sniping and anti-tank weapons.
Another one of Abid’s activities is digging tunnels for Hamas, which uses the underground structures for both defensive purposes in Gaza, as well as offensive terror tunnels dug into Israel. That made him a treasure trove of information on Hamas activities.
The ISA report revealed that “excessive information about the Hamas’s tunnel structure in the Gaza Strip was received during his interrogation—for both tunnels designed for attacking purposes against Israel and tunnels meant for fighting IDF forces inside the Strip.”
The press release did not reveal how Israel has used that information on the tunnels, but in late October—one month after this arrest—Israel destroyed one of the Gaza terror tunnels into Israel.
The ISA statement did note that Abid’s interrogation “unveiled once again Hamas’s terror tunnel activity designed to promote terrorism against the State of Israel.” The press release further reported that an indictment against Abid was filed in District Court in October.
Israeli Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Ofir Gendelman called the September arrest and successful interrogation a “new blow to Hamas” in a post to Twitter.
And this is becoming a trend: Israeli border security snagged two more infiltrators from Gaza last week.
The IDF Spokesperson tweeted on November 22 that the Israeli military saw two persons entering into Israel and “in response to the immediate threat, the troops fired towards the suspects.” One infiltrator was wounded and taken for medical care, while the other one was caught for questioning.
Perhaps more terror secrets will be forthcoming?
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, November 26, 2017)