Four Gazooks kidnapped on a bus traveling from Rafah to Cairo airport on Wednesday night were senior Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, naval commandos who were heading overseas -- apparently to Iran -- for training, The Times of Israel has learned.
In Gazoo, it is believed that the four were intercepted by Egyptian intelligence operatives, and the incident has raised tensions between Hamas and Egypt to new heights.
The four crossed into Egypt via Rafah, where the border was opened in recent days for humanitarian purposes. The Egyptian authorities apparently learned ahead of time that they were making the journey. The crossing has now been closed.
The four were named as Abed Al-Daim Al-Bassat, Said Abdullah Abu Jbin, Yasser Fathi Zanun and Hussein Hamis al-Thbada.
Al-Jazeera
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula,as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS...
quoted a Hamas source on Thursday asserting that Egyptian intelligence was responsible for the abduction.
Various media reports have previously stated that Hamas naval commandos have received sophisticated equipment and undergone intensive training in Iran. The commandos are also reported to have acquired highly mobile underwater scooters that can travel relatively long distances, potentially enabling access to targets deep inside Israel.
Egypt has been closely monitoring the activities of the Hamas military wing in Gazoo, and especially in the area bordering the Sinai, in light of information that the Hamas fighters have been working together with Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
-linked activists in the peninsula. Egypt is said to have intelligence indicating that Hamas fighters gather information on Egyptian Army movements in the area, and are working with IS to smuggle weaponry in and out of Gazoo.
Footage from a Hamas drone that fell inside Israel is also said to indicate that Hamas has been filming along the Gazoo-Egypt border.
| Ynet has more on the Hamas naval commando program here. |