Sources in Hamas claim that the launching of the two rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Gush Dan was intended, among other things, to signal to Israel that it must hurry up negotiations to complete the prisoner exchange deal. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh threatens that his organization will kidnap more Israelis in order to expedite the deal, Hamas is also holding an internal debate on whether to kidnap Israelis abroad.
According to sources in the Gaza Strip, the pressure exerted by security prisoners in Israeli prisons and their families on the Hamas leadership to speed up indirect contacts with Israel, through Egyptian intelligence, is increasing for a prisoner exchange deal.
According to sources in the Gaza Strip, there is increasing pressure on Hamas’ leadership from security prisoners in Israeli prisons and their families to expedite indirect contacts with Israel, through Egyptian intelligence, for a prisoner exchange deal.
Contacts have reached a dead end, Israel rejected Hamas’ latest proposal about two weeks ago Which demanded that in exchange for the release of the four Israeli prisoners and missing persons held in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of murderous terrorists and symbols of terrorism banned in the Israeli prison, such as Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Saadat and others, be released.
Hamas proposed holding the deal in two stages, just like the “Shalit deal” in 2011. In the first stage, Hamas provided information on the situation of the four Israelis in exchange for the release of sick prisoners, minors and women prisoners, and in the second stage, the return of Israeli prisoners in exchange for more than a thousand terrorists, several hundred of them “with blood on their hands.”
According to Hamas sources, this was one of the main reasons why Hamas violated the lull on the Gaza border a few days ago and launched two rockets at Gush Dan, on the faint excuse that it was a “malfunction” caused by the winter weather.
The IDF spokesman said that two rocket launches had been identified from the Gaza Strip to the Mediterranean Sea that fell off the coast of Gush Dan. pic.twitter.com/cuDlMYbnku
– Yoni Ben Menachem (@yonibmen) January 1, 2022
Hamas wanted to signal to Israel that its patience was running out of stalemate over the stuck prisoner exchange deal and that Israel should be flexible on the issue.
During the rocket fire into the Dan bloc, Hamas wanted to signal to Israel that its patience was running out of stalemate over the stuck prisoner exchange deal, and that Israel should be flexible on the issue.
Against this background, and because of the desire to find leverage on Israel to expedite the deal, This week, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya was interviewed by Al-Jazeera and threatened to abduct more Israelis in order to complete the exchange deal.
“We have 4 Israeli prisoners. If that is not enough for an exchange deal, we will abduct more Israelis,” Ismail Haniya said on January 2.
Sources in Hamas say that Ismail Haniyeh sent a warning message to Israel and at the same time a message of reassurance to the security prisoners and their families, that his organization is working tirelessly to get them released from Israeli prison.
The Israeli defense establishment takes the Hamas leader’s threats very seriously, and the GSS is working vigorously at the intelligence level to thwart any plan to kidnap Israeli civilians and soldiers so that they can be used as new bargaining chips for a new prisoner exchange deal.
Last November, the Israeli GSS captured a large infrastructure of about 50 Hamas terrorists in the West Bank, who planned a series of terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
One of the planned attacks was a kidnapping attack.
Last November, the Israeli GSS captured a large infrastructure of about 50 Hamas terrorists in the West Bank, who planned a series of terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank. One of the planned attacks was a kidnapping attack.
Hijazi Qawasmeh, a well-known Hamas operative from Hebron, who was arrested as part of the terrorist infrastructure seized by the GSS, said in his interrogation that he had met with senior Hamas headquarters abroad, and that Saleh Al-Aruri, The commander of Hamas’ military wing in the West Bank offered him a sum of about $ 1 million in exchange for carrying out a kidnapping attack. Hundreds of thousands of shekels were later transferred to him as a down payment to motivate the attack, but he was captured before he could carry out his plot.
Hamas ‘practical preparations for the abduction of Israeli soldiers and civilians were also reflected in the large-scale military exercise carried out by Hamas’ military wing last week in the Gaza Strip under the name “Magen Yerushalayim,” on the occasion of the organization’s 34th anniversary.
The “Shield of Jerusalem” exercise by the Hamas military wing.
Hamas’ military wing has released documentation of an exercise it conducted yesterday in the northern Gaza Strip during which activists practiced abducting an “Israeli” soldier from a tank. pic.twitter.com/lk4iep4IG7
— חוסין מורתדה Hussein Mortada – in Hebrew (@HoseinMortadaH) December 17, 2021
The military wing of Hamas practiced infiltrating Israeli territory through tunnels and the sea, taking over settlements and IDF bases, and abducting civilians and soldiers.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported on December 16 that the practice was ordered by the organization’s military wing headquarters “in light of the Israeli enemy’s stubbornness on issues related to the Gaza Strip, led by Israeli captured soldiers and Israel’s procrastination.”
Hamas’ practical preparations were demonstrated in last week’s large-scale military exercise in the Gaza Strip, in which it infiltrated Israeli territory through tunnels and the sea, practiced taking over IDF settlements and bases, and abducting civilians and soldiers.
Hamas attaches great importance to the abduction of Israeli soldiers and civilians since its inception. A successful abduction of Israelis raises its profile on the Palestinian street and helps it mobilize popular support. He presents himself as not neglecting the practical treatment of an issue at the heart of the Palestinian national consensus, which is the release of prisoners in Israeli prisons, who are considered by Palestinians to be “freedom fighters.”
The abduction of Israelis helps Hamas strengthen its image as the leading Palestinian organization in the fight against Israel and as the one that set goals for the release of Palestinian security prisoners that the PA has failed to achieve, thus pushing it into a corner.
The abduction of Israeli soldiers and civilians is considered by Hamas as a “strategic and high-quality attack” Which weakens Israel and severely damages its image.
An internal debate in Hamas
The policy of abducting Israelis for bargaining purposes is also accepted by the Islamic Jihad organization, which is coordinated with Hamas, and is also preparing to carry out abductions of Israelis.
In light of the successful activities of the Israeli GSS, which has so far succeeded in thwarting all Hamas abduction plans, the organization has intensified its abduction efforts.
According to Hamas sources, an internal dispute has arisen in the organization between two schools – one demands to operate abroad and try to abduct Israelis there, and the other argues that the focus should be on abduction attempts in Israel and the territories.
The policy of abducting Israelis for bargaining purposes is also acceptable to Islamic Jihad, which is coordinated with Hamas. Hamas has raised an internal debate over whether to act to kidnap Israelis abroad or to focus on Israel and the territories
Hamas’ traditional policy since its inception has been to carry out attacks only within “historic Palestinian territories.” Hamas has missions and branches in foreign countries such as Turkey, Lebanon and Qatar, and it can also use organizations such as Hezbollah or the Muslim Brotherhood to kidnap Israelis abroad.
There was also a proposal in Hamas to establish a straw organization abroad that would specialize in Israeli abductions and terrorist attacks, such as the “Black September” organization established by Yasser Arafat in the 1970s as a secret arm of the Fatah movement to carry out attacks abroad, but the Hamas leadership rejected it outright.
The Hamas leadership feared that such a move would further complicate it with the international community, Especially after the British government’s latest statement that the Hamas movement is a “terrorist organization”, which was also legally adopted by the British Parliament and caused heavy damage to the movement and its fundraising system.