Israel "reinforcing its agents in Gaza in preparation for another war"

A Palestinian security source has warned that Israeli intelligence agencies are “reinforcing” their agents in the Gaza Strip in preparation for another war. Israel is rebuilding its database on facilities across Gaza and offering collaborators financial inducements to work for the occupation. This is a tacit acknowledgement by Israel that its network of agents in the beleaguered territory has been less effective since Hamas won the election in 2006 and the subsequent civil strife with a Fatah faction in 2007.

According to the source, the Israeli Prime Minister’s announcement of the appointment of Yossi Peled as a minister responsible for fulfilling the needs of Palestinian collaborators has to be looked at in the context of “handling the demands of these agents so that they carry out tasks in Gaza that are more difficult than before”. Such difficulties are expected to be worse following Israel’s decision to drop tens of thousands of leaflets on Gaza two months ago calling on the citizens to collaborate with the Zionist state.

It has also been revealed that a faction within Fatah dominated by the security leader Mohamed Dahlan is trying to get more of its members into Gaza. This is the same faction that fought against Hamas in 2007. Dahlan’s faction members will be in addition to the hundreds of Palestinians that Fatah has said will go to Gaza in an attempt to generate a successful reconciliation with Hamas and unify the Palestinian people. There is concern that double agents could enter Gaza alongside ordinary citizens.

It is expected that the Israelis will supply their agents with sophisticated communication equipment to monitor the movements of the Hamas leadership. This takes on a more sinister connotation given the recent assassination of a Hamas official in Dubai and suggests that the Israelis may return to so-called “targeted assassinations” of resistance leaders in collaboration with Palestinian agents. The source of this information also noted the decision of the Fatah Revolutionary Council to have a committee to develop strategies for restoring Gaza to the Palestinian fold through dialogue, without specifying dialogue as the only option to get results.