JERUSALEM – Israeli special forces of the Shin Bet captured the commander of Hamas’s internal security apparatus in a “bold operation” in Gaza City on Tuesday morning, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the military, and the domestic security agency. Arabic-language media claimed earlier in the day that an Israeli-backed anti-Hamas militia carried out a raid during in the Hamas security chief, Muein al-Arabid, was captured.
But in a statement later Tuesday, Netanyahu said he commended “the Shin Bet and the IDF, who in a bold operation arrested today the head of building Hamas’s internal security apparatus near his home in Gaza.”In a separate statement, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet said the raid was carried out by “special forces” of the security agency.
The IDF and Shin Bet said the special forces raided a building in Gaza City and captured the Hamas security chief. During the raid, the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes on several “military targets in the area to remove threats to the forces.” No Israeli forces were injured in the operation, the joint statement said. The security chief had recently been working to “consolidate the Hamas organisation’s control over the northern Gaza Strip” and to advance attacks on IDF troops deployed in the Strip, according to the military.Netanyahu said the captured officer is “one of Hamas’s most senior leaders, was responsible for hiding and moving our hostages, hiding senior Hamas officials, force build-up, and attempting to restore the capabilities of the organization.”
“Recently, he was engaged in efforts to restore Hamas’s governance in Gaza, in deception regarding the issue of demilitarizing the Strip, and assisted in carrying out attacks against our forces and our civilians,” he said. The IDF added that the operation was intended to “remove threats and undermine Hamas’s control in the area and its plans to advance activities against IDF troops and Israeli civilians.”
