Mousa Abu Marzouq
Mousa Abu MarzouqReuters

Hamas on Wednesday denied reports in the media that it has made a series of arrests among its members after a senior military commander in the Al-Qassam Brigades, the organization's terrorist arm, defected to Israel.

The report originally appeared on the Saudi news network Al-Arabiya. In addition, rumors were swirling on social media claimed that the commander of the naval force of the Al-Qassam Brigades was the commander who defected.

Mousa Abu Marzouq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said in an interview with the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen network that reports in Israel about the arrest of senior security officials in Gaza who were Israeli agents were false.

"Unfortunately, Arab media outlets serve as a mouthpiece for Israeli propaganda and thus lose their credibility in the eyes of the Arab public," he said.

Abu Marzouq noted that "the agents apprehended in Gaza are not related to one another and are not senior members of Hamas or the Al-Qassam Brigades."