Scene of battle in Gaza last month
Scene of battle in Gaza last monthREUTERS

The Israeli special forces team which was uncovered by Hamas terrorists inside the Gaza Strip last month, leading to a pitched battle as the team attempted to flee, had originally entered the Strip while posing as medical aid workers, the Hamas terror organization has claimed.

Last month, an IDF Lieutenant Colonel, identified only by the initial “M”, was killed and a second Israeli officer wounded after Hamas terrorists in the Strip uncovered the Israeli special operations unit during a mission to plant intelligence-gathering devices in the Hamas-controlled enclave.

According to a report by The Independent, Lt. Col. M and the other members of the Israeli team had entered the Gaza Strip using “detailed but fake” identity cards of real Gaza residents, and claimed to be medical aid workers from an NGO.

Hazem Qassem, a representative of the Hamas terror group, said Hamas had compared the ID cards recovered from the wreckage of a vehicle used by the Israeli team with the actual information of the Gaza residents whose identities were used, calling the fake IDs “very accurate”.

“They had detailed but fake ID cards of Gaza residents which were found [in the wreckage]. Those who the Israelis were posing as were detained but they had no idea their names had been used.”

Qassem also said that the Israeli agents had posed as members of a non-governmental organization of aid workers.

They “were posing as NGO workers, there were women in the car as well. They used this to justify why they were stealing into Gaza and had a story prepared should they be questioned.”

Last week, it was reported that the Israeli agents had entered the Gaza Strip at separate times, so as to avoid arousing suspicion.

The team had entered via the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza, while their equipment was brought into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The Israeli special forces unit was aided by agents inside the Gaza Strip, who helped procure two vehicles for the team to transport them from the crossing point deep into the southern Gaza Strip.