Special to WorldTribune.com

JERUSALEM — Israel’s intelligence community has determined that
Hamas was using security forces for rocket attacks against Israel.

The open-source arm of the intelligence community asserted that many of
those killed in Israel Air Force strikes during the mini-war in November
2012 were members of the Hamas security forces.

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said a quarter of all the casualties were officers under the command of the Hamas Interior Ministry.

“In our assessment, money donated to the de-facto Hamas administration is transferred by the ministry of the interior to the military-terrorist wings of the various organizations for the upkeep of their operatives,” the center said in a report.

Titled “Members of Hamas’ Internal Security Services Who Were Also
Operatives in Hamas’ Military-Terrorist Wing and Were Killed in Operation Pillar of Defense,” the report said the security officers belonged to Hamas’ military wing as well as the Hamas-aligned Popular Resistance Committees. The intelligence center said the use of security officers kept these personnel loyal to Hamas.

Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad has acknowledged that security
officers fought Israel in the eight-day missile war. Hamad, now regarded as
a leading member of the Hamas military, said security forces collaborated
with both the military wing as well as unidentified militia allies in the
Gaza Strip.

“The terrorist organizations regularly put the names of internal
security service members killed by the IDF on their lists of civilian
casualties to inflate the number of non-involved civilians killed,” the
report said.

  Fathi Hamad, Gaza Strip, Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Israel Air Force, Israeli intel: Hamas used security officers on rocket squads