i24NEWS
July 30, 2020
Izz al-Din Hussein joined Hamas military wing in 2013, fled Gaza in late June due to frictions with group
A Hamas operative who fled to Israel after facing persecution from the group and “family issues” brought in a trove of valuable intelligence on the Gaza terrorist faction, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Thursday.
It identified the fugitive as Izz al-Din Hussein, a 24-year-old member of the Hamas air defense units, reaching Israel by sea and immediately arrested by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
At the time, initial reports in Israeli media identified the fugitive as an officer with Hamas naval commandos. The group confirmed his escape but claimed he did not have access to any major information.
According to the Shin Bet, Hussein joined the Hamas military wing in 2013. In 2018, he was with its air defense forces, including as a commander of a squad operating shoulder-launched rockets.
The group instructed him to fire at Israeli helicopters if he could make sure they would crash in Gaza in hopes to kidnap Israeli soldiers.
His knowledge of Hamas’s inner workings has provided Shin Bet with a “unique” source of intelligence on the group’s operations, the agency said.
After the probe, the prosecutor’s office for the South District filed an indictment against Hussein with charges of major security offenses.