http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059746.html
Intel sources: Gaza informants compromised by sloppiness
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff
Tags: Gaza, Shin Bet, IDF, Hamas
Intelligence organizations in Israel will examine claims of careless use
of classified information during the fighting in the Gaza Strip, carelessness
that supposedly led to the loss of intelligence "assets." Senior army sources
told Haaretz that the use of the intelligence was necessary in order to save
the lives of soldiers who faced obvious danger during an operation, but added
that the subject is one that needs to be examined in an extensive and orderly
intelligence investigation of the type that normally takes place following an
operation of the magnitude of Cast Lead.
During the recent fighting, and following it as well, Hamas executed
several dozen civilians. Some of those killed were members of rival Fatah, but
others were not politically affiliated. It appears that in most cases Hamas
suspected that their victims had collaborated with Israeli intelligence.
However, it also appears that there were cases in which Hamas gunmen took
advantage of the chaos in order to settle old scores with Fatah rivals, even if
the excuse was as flimsy as seeing them smiling in the street, or appearing to
express satisfaction at the Israeli offensive and the damage it caused Hamas.
Palestinian sources said that Hamas gunmen shot and killed civilians, and
in other instances shot and wounded them in the legs "on the spot and without
asking questions." Among those killed were Fatah members who were spotted in
the vicinity of Hamas installations bombed by the air force, and who were
carrying cell phones, and could not satisfactorily explain what they were doing
in that particular location at that time.
In one case, which was widely discussed in the Strip, Hamas gunmen
kidnapped a civilian from his home, tortured him, and ripped out his eyes,
because they suspected he was an Israeli agent. The man was returned to his
family, but several days later the gunmen returned and murdered him.
During the fighting, various Israeli security organizations prided
themselves on the close interaction between the different intelligence bodies,
and the removal of all obstacles in the flow of intelligence from them to units
in the field. To a large extent, intelligence during the operation was managed
from the field headquarters of Southern Command, with the elimination of all
the restrictions imposed in the past, which often prevented effective use of
information. This allowed an accelerated process of putting information into
action, whether though the targeting from the air of a group of militants who
had just launched a rocket toward Israel, or in quickly assisting ground forces
in jeopardy.
Brigade and battalion commanders who operate in the field were very
impressed by the fact that the Shin Bet security service and Military
Intelligence could warn them with great precision of developments in their
proximity.
However, it appears that these achievements had some problematic
implications. Sources at Southern Command and in MI claim that
intelligence-gathering personnel both at the Shin Bet and MI were frustrated
that in a number of instances, operations officers failed to adequately protect
a source of information - namely Palestinian agents. According to one source, a
number of agents were "intercepted" by Hamas during the operation because the
intelligence they provided was used carelessly.
"The approach of the commanders was that, this is war and there is no
room for caution now," one of the sources said. "One argument was that
everything needed to be done in order to preserve the lives of soldiers in the
battlefield - that the security of the soldiers came before the security of the
informant. But we also heard a different argument, which said that what we are
now doing is 'killing a lot of Arabs,' and therefore details like protecting
those who are working for us are less important."
According to a former senior intelligence officer, the disagreement
reflects a permanent sort of tension between intelligence officers and
operations officers, which peaks during periods of high-intensity fighting. "It
is natural for 'controllers' to be concerned. They need to protect the person
who is working with them. But sometimes the higher-ups have other
considerations, like protecting the forces in the field, and they decide
differently. In any case, these are the sort of arguments that require in-depth
examination."
They Shin Bet declined to respond to the claims. However, senior officers
at Military Intelligence denied that the claims were accurate.
Missing Ja'abari
It was also learned recently that Israel had tried, at least on two
occasions, to assassinate the head of the Hamas military wing, Ahmed Ja'abari,
during the Gaza offensive. In one instance, the air force dropped two one-ton
bombs on a building where Ja'abari was believed to be hiding with a group of
militants. One of the men was killed, but Ja'abari emerged unharmed.
In another case, Israel had intelligence that Ja'abari was in an urban
compound that included 10 homes. Because it was not certain that the target was
at the location, a decision was made not to attack, even though some urged a
strike in spite of the potential for collateral damage that such an attack
would entail.
Unlike Ja'abari, another senior figure in the Hamas military wing,
Mohammed Deif, who had been seriously injured in two assassination attempts on
him in recent years, avoided taking any significant part in the recent
fighting.
It seems that Deif did not entirely recover from the massive injuries he
suffered during the prior Israeli attacks.
Most of the senior Hamas figures hid in a bunker - which had been built
by Israel - under Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, as well as in bunkers under the
buildings housing foreign delegations, such as that of Qatar.
Hamas also made use of other buildings Israel left behind during the
unilateral withdrawal from the Strip in 2005: nearly 100 public bomb shelters
that had been built in the settlements of Gush Katif were not destroyed by the
IDF during the disengagement. The shelters were used as arms depots and
hideouts for militants.
During Operation Lead Cast, the IDF and the Shin Bet killed approximately
20 commanders of the Hamas military wing, who held positions ranging from
company commander to brigade commander. Israel also killed three of the
organization's top 10 leaders - in both its political and military wings: Nizar
Riyan, Said Sayyam and Salah Abu-Shreikh.
During the two years that marked the peak of the second intifada
(2002-2004), Israel killed the largest number of important Hamas leaders,
including Ahmed Yassin (founder and spiritual leader of the group), Abdel Aziz
Rantisi (Yassin's temporary successor), Ibrahim Maqadmeh, Salah Shehadeh,
Ismail Abu-Shanab and Adnan al-Rul
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