Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Further proof that Palestinian policemen also serve in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing


Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

1. 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. Many of its operatives serve as policemen but routinely and in emergency situations also in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing. They are integrated into the Brigades’ defensive and offensive missions at the expense of internal security. That was clearly shown during Operation Cast Lead.1 2. As part of its anti-Israeli campaign following Operation Cast Lead, Hamas and the human rights organization often included the names of operatives of the police force and internal security apparatus on the lists of those killed during the operation as civilians and not fighters, representing Israel as unjustifiedly attacking “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 Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

3. Additional proof of the dual duties of the Hamas police was recently made available by Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades announcements of the deaths of operatives who were killed during policing missions:

i) Ayman Khaled Ibrahim Abu Sibleh, a policeman killed of August 14, 2009, was also as an operative in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He was killed in battle against jihadist operatives (among them Jund Ansar Allah) during the incident at the Ibn Taymiyyah mosque in Rafah. During the battle, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades brutally suppressed their jihadi opponents.2


ii) In an announcement issued by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Tariq Farid Abu Jizer died in Khan Yunis on August 27, 2009, during a policing 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.


1 For further information see our March 24, 2009 bulletin “Mounting evidence indicates that during Operation Cast Lead (and in ordinary times) members of Hamas’s internal security forces served as commanders and operatives in Hamas’s military wing (Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades) ” at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hamas_e067.pdf.

2 For further information see our August 31, 2009 bulletin “Hamas steps up its struggle against the global jihad-affiliated Salafist networks challenging its control of the Gaza Strip. Hamas recently used extreme force to suppress global jihad operatives, one of whose leaders announced the establishment of an Islamic emirate from the pulpit in the Ibn Taymiyyah mosque in Rafah,” will soon be available in Hebrew on our website and currently being translated into English.

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