An IDF operation that penetrated a Hamas intelligence headquarters on December 18 led to seizing electronics that helped the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) bust a Hamas terrorist cell that was using Jews to transfer weapons and explosives, the IDF reported Wednesday.
The Jewish Israeli citizens, mostly in the Jerusalem area, were duped into believing that they were working for Jews living overseas and did not realize they were working for Hamas.
All of the instructions for picking up and dropping off packages or funds, or purchasing various gifts, which ultimately were actually connected to weapons or explosives for Hamas, were delivered to the unwitting Jewish agents electronically.
Hamas's attempts to recruit Jews as spies
This was not the first time that Hamas tried to recruit or use Jews as spies, but it was the biggest reported operation in which Hamas was duping larger numbers of people using online identities, as opposed to going after one or two individuals with checkered backgrounds and trying to compromise them to spy.
Whenever any Jewish agent sought to speak to their handlers by telephone, the Hamas contacts pretended that it was too difficult to coordinate because of living overseas and the time difference.
The initial breakthrough came from the Shin Bet and IDF Intelligence collecting items seized from Hamas for inspecting, cataloging, and translating into operational intelligence.
Both units used the breakthroughs obtained from computers, cellphones, and other items in mid-December to carry out a counterintelligence sting operation against the Hamas handlers, although the announcement about busting the plot did not mention arrests.
Israeli intelligence uncovered that several Hamas handlers were part of an elite group who used to live in the West Bank, were later detained by the IDF, and were then expelled to Gaza during the 2011 Gilad Schalit hostage-exchange deal, the IDF statement said.
Documents recovered by the Israeli intelligence units identified September 2023, the month before the October 7 Hamas invasion, as a time of heightened activity, although it was possible that the Hamas spying scheme went back further in time.
Israeli intelligence emphasized that Israeli citizens should not take instructions from unidentified persons online.
On December 28, the IDF invited The Jerusalem Post and other media outlets for a special visit to the IDF Intelligence catalogue facility.
From October 7 and until late December, the office of around 350 personnel, the majority reservists, had sorted through more than 65 million electronic files and 500,000 physical documents, with the current rate of new incoming electronic files reaching about one million per day.
Using the IDF Intelligence catalogue office’s conclusions, there have been a huge number of instances in which soldiers in the field were saved from Hamas ambushes.
Lower-level fighting continues in north and center of the Strip
In Gaza, the IDF continued lower-level fighting in the northern and central regions, targeting Hamas terrorist infrastructure and eliminating a significant number of terrorists in the area.
In recent days, combat units from Division 162 continued to pursue terrorist elements.
The 401st Brigade, in particular, has taken a lead role in combating terrorism in northern Gaza. It successfully eliminated more than 15 terrorists affiliated with Hamas.
In an operation targeting a terrorist enclave situated within a school compound, about 10 Islamic Jihad operatives were apprehended.
Furthermore, IDF forces uncovered and destroyed five rockets primed for launch, preventing potential attacks on the civilian populations.
Meanwhile, the Nahal Brigade swiftly responded to threats in Gaza’s central region, eliminating more than 10 armed terrorists within a short time frame.
On the outskirts of northern Gaza, the 5th Brigade, in collaboration with IAF units, engaged and eliminated armed terrorists operating dangerously close to IDF positions. In the course of these operations, significant caches of weapons, documents, and military equipment belonging to Hamas were discovered in various military structures.
In a separate operation conducted by the Paratroopers Brigade in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, IDF forces successfully thwarted a terrorist cell’s attempt to approach their position.
Prompt action by IDF ground forces directed an airstrike, neutralizing the imminent threat posed by the terrorist cell.
In another targeted action, the 98th Brigade, supported by IAF units, struck a military facility utilized by Hamas terrorists for orchestrating ambushes against IDF personnel.
In the North, IAF jets targeted a military infrastructure belonging to the Syrian regime in the Daraa province in response to launches toward the southern Golan Heights, the IDF said Wednesday.
Hezbollah fired rockets and anti-tank missiles at several locations in the North in multiple rounds, including Yiftah, Ya’ara, Hanita, Menara, and Yuval.
The IDF returned fire with artillery units.
The IDF also carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah units at Rashaf and the Alma-al-shaab and Itaron areas of southern Lebanon.
Hamas did not fire any rockets on Wednesday. It fired one on Tuesday.
In the West Bank, IDF and Border Police officers, along with the Shin Bet, arrested 14 suspects overnight and confiscated many weapons.
Walla contributed to this report.