Sources in Hamas have revealed new details about the operation to kidnap the group's senior security official, Moeen al-Arabid, last Tuesday by an Israeli special forces unit that carried out a rare operation deep inside Hamas-controlled territory west of Gaza City.
The operation killed Samah al-Arabid, the abductee's wife, and wounded two of his sons, his daughter, and two of his bodyguards. Two children who were in the area when the Israeli special forces unit carried out the operation were also killed.
How the operation began
Sources familiar with the investigation told Asharq Al-Awsat that the security operation began about two months ago, when officers from Israel's Shin Bet security agency posed as representatives of an international aid organization that would provide assistance to Palestinians by setting up small businesses, including stalls selling vegetables, drinks and other goods in the target area, specifically along what is known as Villas Street in the Katiba neighborhood, west of Gaza City.
According to the sources, Shin Bet used Palestinian operatives, including women, to run the project and supply them with vegetables every day, presenting them as aid from the organization. The proceeds from the sales were supposedly to benefit those participating in the project.
The operatives later asked them to monitor certain homes and track the movements of specific individuals in the area, including al-Arabid.
The sources said it later emerged that those running the project had been collaborating with Shin Bet. On the day of the operation, new individuals appeared at some of the stalls, while others had been there since the previous day selling vegetables. They were later identified as Shin Bet operatives who had arrived in the area and concealed their weapons inside the stalls. When the operation began, they took part in the attack before disappearing and withdrawing from the area.
This was not the first time Israel has used the cover of international organizations to conduct operations inside the Gaza Strip. A similar incident occurred when an Israeli special forces unit infiltrated Al-Shifa Hospital in March 2024 before military reinforcements arrived at the site. That operation subsequently continued for two weeks, during which Hamas members and operatives from its various security and military branches were killed or captured, including commanders from the Al-Qassam Brigades.
Prior presence
Regarding the latest operation west of Gaza City, the sources said the Israeli special forces operatives do not appear to have entered the area beforehand except for several brief visits, apparently to gain a clearer picture of the area and finalize plans for the operation.
Instead, they relied on surveillance carried out by the collaborators. According to the investigation so far, those collaborators apparently did not know the precise objective of the operation or the actual plan. Some also documented on camera whatever their Israeli handlers instructed them to record.
The investigation indicates that some of the Shin Bet operatives who carried out the operation had been in the area one or two days earlier in moving vehicles. At least one of those vehicles was later targeted and destroyed by Israeli aircraft after the operation.
Zero hour
When the attack began, the special forces unit attempted to catch al-Arabid off guard by opening fire on him as he emerged from his home with one of his bodyguards. He managed to fire back, while the Israeli forces fired rounds containing an anesthetic agent at him.
Another bodyguard opened fire on the force, while two of al-Arabid's sons and his wife also fired at the attackers. All were subsequently wounded by gunfire. At the same time, a small quadcopter drone dropped a bomb on the house.
The attack killed his wife and critically wounded one of his sons. His other son's eye had to be surgically removed. He had been due to get married that same day. Other members of the family and bodyguards were also wounded.
According to the injured people interviewed as part of the investigation, al-Arabid attempted to escape through the rear of the house during the ensuing clashes. He was surprised by another Israeli force waiting there. Although wounded and crawling, he continued to fire at them. They then detonated a stun grenade near him before taking him captive.
One source said the initial denial that al-Arabid had been abducted resulted from his son's insistence that his father had managed to escape. The family did not know that another Israeli force was positioned at the rear of the house and had captured him, leading to confusion in the initial reports about what had happened.
The investigation found that after al-Arabid fled, the Israeli special forces searched the wounded in an attempt to establish his identity before leaving them behind. Some were bleeding at the scene, including his wife. The force later captured him in the street behind the house as he attempted to escape despite his injuries.
Arrests of collaborators
According to one source, at least 36 suspects have been arrested so far and are being questioned over suspected involvement in assisting the Israeli special forces unit. The source said some of those arrested have confessed to collaborating with Israel, while investigations are still underway.
In an account broadly consistent with information provided to Asharq Al-Awsat sources, Gaza's Al-Hares security platform reported that three collaborators, including a woman, had been arrested. They allegedly posed as an international relief organization to facilitate movement in the area and gather intelligence.
Their confessions reportedly indicated that the special forces unit arrived at the scene only hours before the operation was exposed and had no prior presence in the area. They also said the outbreak of clashes prompted the special forces to call for assistance from Israeli aircraft.
Hamas previously arrested dozens of suspects following a similar operation in 2018, when an Israeli special forces unit infiltrated the Gaza Strip and conducted extensive activities there for several months.
Another abduction attempt
Separately, Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said early Friday that armed groups had attempted to abduct one of its members on Al-Jameiza Street in the town of al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis.
The group said the armed men entered the area with support from Israeli drones. They were discovered, triggering clashes that left several members of the group dead or wounded.
It said Israeli drones intervened to assist the special forces in withdrawing from the area. Members of the force then killed one of the Al-Quds Brigades members, Fadi al-Abadala, after shooting him and leaving him at the scene.
A field source told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Abadala arrived at Nasser Medical Complex with his hands bound, indicating that the abduction had apparently succeeded. The source said he may have been interrogated before the abduction attempt and subsequently executed, adding that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
