Israeli intel: Hamas using police for military ops
TEL AVIV Ñ The Hamas regime was said to be using police officers for
military operations.
Israel's intelligence community has determined that Hamas's military
wing was recruiting police officers for operations. The Intelligence and
Terrorism Information Center said Hamas police forces were drafted to fight
Israel during the war in January 2009 in the Gaza Strip.
"Hamas' internal security apparatus, which includes the police force and
the elite rapid intervention unit, serves as Hamas' main instrument for
suppressing its opponents in the Gaza Strip," the center said in a report on
Sept. 1. "Many of its operatives serve as policemen but routinely and in
emergency situations also in the Izzedin Al Kassam Brigades, Hamas'
military-terrorist wing. They are integrated into the brigades' defensive
and offensive missions at the expense of internal security."
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The report cited announcements by Izzedin Kassam of its members killed
during police missions. One police officer, Ayman Abu Sibleh, killed on Aug.
14 during a battle with the Al Qaida-aligned Jund Ansar Allah, was also
identified as a member of Hamas's military wing.
Another police officer recruited by Hamas's military for the attack on
Jund was Tariq Abu Jizer. Abu Jizer was killed during a mission on Aug. 27
in Khan Yunis. Again, Izzedin Kassam announced Abu Jizer's death,
attributing it to a jihad mission.
"According to the announcement, he died during 'an honorable jihad
mission' fulfilling his 'national commitment' as part of the rapid
intervention and public order force of the Palestinian police," the report
said.
The report cited Hamas claims that the Israel Air Force attacked police
officers during the war in December 2008. Human rights organizations had
deemed the casualties those of innocent policemen.
"The claim, which had no basis in fact, was that the internal security
system was completely civilian and provided services to civilians, and was
not part of the military-operational system, as was the Izzedin Kassam
Brigades," the report said.
