Cleared for publication: Spurious fisherman caught after his boat sailed outside the permitted area for Gaza’s fishermen, revealed during questioning details of his involvement in a Hamas smuggling operation.
By i24news
A joint Shin Bet, Israeli navy and Israel Police operation led to the arrest in April 2016 of a smuggler linked with Hamas, it was cleared for publication on Monday.
Palestinian Hamas militants take part in a 2015 anti-Israeli protest in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis (file) – Photo: SAID KHATIB /AFP
Salim Jamal Hassan Naaman, a 39-year-old resident of the Shati refugee camp in Gaza, was arrested by Israeli naval forces after his boat sailed outside the permitted area for Gazan fisherman, according to a Shin Bet statement.
During Naaman’s Shin Bet interrogation it transpired that the suspect had for some time been involved in smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip via the sea, where they were transferred to Hamas and other terror groups in the coastal enclave.
Israeli patrol boat off the Gaza shore – Photo: Reuters
In addition to the arms Naaman brought in, he also managed to smuggle material for making rockets, such as fiberglass resin, according to the Shin Bet.
The interrogation also revealed further information about Hamas’ smuggling operations and plans, including the fact that the group tried to use fishermen to deceive the security services and cover up their activities.
Details of Hamas’ smuggling network via between Gaza and Egypt via the sea also emerged.
The Shin Bet said that the information they discovered during the interrogation was yet another element in Hamas’ array of methods to try and advance its “violent terror activities.”
View original i24news publication at:
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/113523-160516-israel-arrests-hamas-linked-arms-smuggler
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