According to a report by Israeli broadcaster KAN News, Shin Bet agents worked undercover as aid workers, selling humanitarian supplies to Gazans who then resold them in local Gazan markets. In this way, they were able to get their Gazan contacts to monitor the movement of their targets, such as Mu’in al-Arabid, head of Hamas’ internal security apparatus, who was captured in a daring raid in Gaza last week.

The customers of the Shin Bet had no idea they were supplying intelligence to the Israelis until they heard of al-Arabid’s capture.

Before the raid, Shin Bet operatives took over their customers’ market stalls and hid their weapons there, which they grabbed before fleeing when the operation began.

The IDF and Shin Bet released a joint statement last week announcing the capture of the first high-level Hamas official deep inside Gaza in a long time. They did not mention that they received help from local anti-Hamas militias, but sources confirmed to KAN news that they were involved in the operation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz emphasized the importance of al-Arabid to Hamas. Netanyahu said he had played a key role in hiding the 251 hostages abducted from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. A Gazan source told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas is seeking to “downplay the incident” and portray al-Arabid as a mid-level security official.

“Its internal security forces are actively pursuing militias supported by Israel,” the source added.