Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Capture of Mossad ‘secret agents’ pushes Israel and Gaza to brink of new war

Capture of Mossad ‘secret agents’ pushes Israel and Gaza to brink of new war

Video footage of two alleged Israeli spies being held by an armed Palestinian group have thrown fuel on an already incendiary situation.
While indirect talks over a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel continue without any concrete progress, Gaza’s armed groups threaten retaliation to any deaths which may occur amongst Palestinian political prisoners inside Israeli jails. This already volatile and tense scenario has been further complicated with the release of a video of two alleged Mossad agents.

Late Friday night,an investigative program aired by Al-Jazeera’s Arabic channel broadcast footage claimed to have been filmed and leaked to them by a little known group called ‘Hurriyeh’ (Freedom). The documentary, which focuses on abuses carried out against Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s military prisons, claims the two were Israeli agents who were “executing secret security missions outside Israel.”

The men were shown shackled in detention with armed guards. Israel waited until Saturday night to deny that any of its citizens had been captured. This has now led to much speculation over whether the videos of the two is a deception to seek to pressurise Israel, or that Tel Aviv is simply lying.

The first notice of the existence of the movement and their prisoners was back in September of 2020, when a page on Facebook calling itself ‘Freedom Movement’, claimed to have captured two Israeli Mossad agents and threatened to reveal more information. Israel never confirmed nor denied those allegations at the time, and as only poor quality photos and no documentation were made available to support the group’s claims, the story was largely ignored.

However, the new documentary has now revealed not just the footage, but the names and a passport of one of the Israelis said to have been captured. The two were identified as David Ben-Rosey, described as a petrochemical expert, and David Perry, said to be an intelligence officer and part of an Israeli settler organisation. The ‘Freedom’ group claims that they were both working for Mossad. According to the program, the fate of the two depends upon the securing of a successful prisoner exchange deal.

If Tel Aviv is telling the truth and these men are not Israelis or working for Mossad, then this may indicate that a psyops campaign has been carried out against them. Alternatively, if it does turn out that the claims are correct, then this would be an embarrassment for the Israelis and would amount to them having undergone a massive cover-up in order to not weaken their bargaining chips in the exchange negotiations.

In late October, UN Human Rights Council expertsurged Israel to release five Palestinian hunger strikers due to fears that their health could rapidly deteriorate at any moment; the Israeli authorities have continued to ignore these concerns. Hamas, as well as several other Palestinian political parties, have sworn that if any prisoner dies in Israel’s custody, their armed wings will retaliate. There are also now six Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, making the risk of a violent escalation in the occupied territories much higher, if one or more prisoners die.

The six prisoners refusing food are; Kayed al-Fasfous, who has been on strike for 117 days, Miqdad Al-Qawasmeh (109 days), Alaa Al-Araj (91 days) Hisham Abu Hawash (82 days), Ayyad Al-Herimi (46 days), and Louay Al-Ashqar (29 days). According to the mother of Miqdad Qawasmi, who spoke with Arab48 news, her son “has constant pain in the abdomen, his joints, and bones, and cannot see, in addition to arrhythmia, migraine and many other conditions,” adding that she fears he may die at any moment. Kayed al-Fasfous, the longest hunger striker, also risks “clinical death” in the coming days, his family warns.

All of the hunger strikers are currently held in what Israel calls ‘administrative detention’, meaning that they are being held without charge and that the jailing is done on the basis of so-called secretive security information. This practice is “fundamentally a violation of the Geneva conventions,” Samidoun’s international coordinator, Charlotte Kates, told me when I asked her to comment on the legality of the detention of the six political prisoners. Samidoun is a political prisoners’ advocacy group which has been working on international mobilisation in support of the hunger strikers.

“Israel will claim that an occupier has the right to detain people under the law, but the reality is that they use administrative detention on a systematic and constant basis,” Kates said. “It should be noted that these so-called allegations are illegitimate, because the entire system is based on the criminalisation of legitimate Palestinian resistance, but in these cases, even within the military court system, which convicts over 99% of Palestinians, Israel doesn’t think it can make a case, which just shows its blatant disregard for fair trial standards. Administrative detention is a violation of international law.”

In mid-October, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) party, a political and armed group based in Gaza,organised a mass hunger strike which included around 400 prisoners belonging to the group. Israel quickly struck a deal to end this strike, which threatened to draw in other groups to organise their members to do the same.

Despite Israel having de-escalated tensions through this deal, which secured more basic rights for Palestinian prisoners, the situation is at the boiling point again. PIJ and Hamas, Gaza’s ruling party, have both threatened retaliation in the event that any hunger striker dies in custody. If one occurs, a sudden armed escalation between Israel and Gaza could easily be the result, plunging the two sides into a similar bloody confrontation as was seen in May.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Reports in Gaza: 5 dead from the impact of aid packages dropped by the USA
Apple warns against drying iPhones with rice
China Criticizes US for Vetoing UN Ceasefire Resolution in Gaza
In a recent High Court hearing, the U.S. argued that Julian Assange endangered lives by releasing classified information.
The U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, instead proposing its own six-week ceasefire plan contingent upon the release of all hostages held by Hamas
Prince William Urges End to Gaza Conflict
Saudi Arabia ranks first in UN index for e-government services in MENA
Israel has gone ‘beyond self-defence’ in Gaza, says Labour’s Streeting
EU Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza Conflict
Israel Records 20% Drop In GDP, War In Gaza Is The Reason
Saudi Arabia's FDI Inflows Grow with New International Standards
Venture Capitals Power Up Across MENA Region
Saudi Arabia Introduces Terms for 30-Year Income Tax Exemption for Multinational Companies
Saudi FM: Establishing Palestinian state is only pathway for Mideast stability
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has died at the Arctic prison colony
Elon Musk's Starlink Gets License For Israel, Parts Of Gaza
Influencers Exploit X Platform for Profit Amidst Israel-Gaza Conflict
PM Modi Announces Opening Of New CBSE Office In Dubai
International Criminal Court's Chief "Deeply Concerned" By Rafah Bombing
January Funding for MENA Startups Totals $86.5 Million
Saudi Arabia accelerates digital economy growth through Nvidia partnership
Indian female military officers commend Saudi Arabia's progress and women's empowerment
Israel unveils tunnels underneath Gaza City headquarters of UN agency for Palestinian refugees
Israel deploys new military AI in Gaza war
Egypt threatens to suspend key peace treaty if Israel pushes into Gaza border town, officials say
Israel Utilizes AI Military Technology in Gaza Conflict
Saudi Arabia Warns Of A "Humanitarian Catastrophe" If Israel Moves On Rafah
China Warns Iran to Halt Houthi Attacks or Damage Trade Ties
US University To Shut Qatar Campus Due To "Heightened Mideast Instability"
Iran-backed hackers interrupt UAE TV streaming services with deepfake news
Facebook and Instagram Ban Iran's Supreme Leader
Finnish Airline, Finnair, is voluntarily weighing passengers to better estimate flight cargo weight
U.S. Secretary of State Blinken: The Israelis underwent dehumanization on 7.10, this does not give them the right to do this to others.
Defense Technology Showcase Held in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports rise 2.5% to $6bn in November 2023: GASTAT
UK Bans Misleading "Zero Emissions" Claims for Electric Cars
Gaza's Teen Inventor Sparks Light in Displacement
Netanyahu Rejects Ceasefire Proposal, Insists On Total Victory Over Hamas
Guterres appoints independent UNRWA review panel
Private Sector Employment Hits Record High with Over 11 Million Employees in January
Rolls-Royce Executive Encourages Saudi Women to Tap into Their Inner 'Superhero' for Success in Defense Industry
Saudi Arabia launches National Academy of Vehicles and Cars
Saudi Tourism Minister Reveals Plan for 250,000 New Hotel Rooms by 2030
SAR to more than double eastern network passenger capacity with new trains deal
Saudi Arabia Enhances National Defense with New Partnerships
Saudi Aramco Maintains Arab Light Crude Pricing to Asia for March
NEOM Establishes New York Office to Support Investors
Saudi Wealth Fund Draws in Over $25 Billion Worth of Investments in Three Years, Al-Rumayyan Reveals
ZATCA Cautions Against Scammer Schemes
INTRA Defense Technologies inaugurates drone factory in Riyadh
×