Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ def-facto prime minister in Gaza Strip, announced Monday that his security forces had discovered a spy network in the Gaza strip that served Israeli interests through the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). “In recent arrests, the security services were able to dismantle several security cells that channeled dangerous but false information to Ramallah and then to the Israeli occupation,” Haniyeh told reporters.
The arrests of the PNA employees, he added, were meant to deprive Israel from “a bank of targets so the occupation will not be able to defeat our people's glory and hope.” One of the men identified had reportedly been suspected of “electronic offences.” In the first of its kind, the man was arrested for allegedly distributing lies on Fatah Web forums.
A Palestinian police officer in Gaza told ynet, “This is the first arrest of a man involved in electronic offences of disseminating false information.”
Fatah, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has accused Hamas of arresting its supporters in Gaza. Haniyeh has countered the accusation saying the arrested were collaborators, not Fatah supporters.
The latest arrests come as Fatah and Hamas try to reach a reconciliation deal in Cairo. Last week, Fattah-led security forces arrested a Hamas cell in the West Bank accused of plotting to assassinate senior Fatah officials. Both Hamas and Fatah have traded accusations of arbitrary arrests casting doubt on the talks’ success.
