Israeli army investigates leak of alleged Hamas documents to foreign press

As local media reported on Tuesday, the Israeli army is investigating the leak of documents to foreign media allegedly attributed to the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the army had launched an internal investigation after documents allegedly originating from Gaza were leaked to the foreign press in an alleged attempt to influence public opinion regarding negotiations with Hamas over a hostage exchange.

The newspaper said the leaked documents underlined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tough stance in the exchange talks with Hamas.

“This issue is likely to exacerbate tensions between the security apparatus and Netanyahu, which have already reached new heights due to their deep differences over an agreement,” it added.

While the army supports efforts to exchange prisoners with Hamas, Netanyahu rejects any end to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli prime minister also insists on maintaining control over the Philadelphia Corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt, a position that Cairo vehemently rejects.

An alleged Hamas document published by the German newspaper Bild allegedly describes an action plan by the Palestinian group to put pressure on Israel and maintain a division in the Israeli public in order to help the country’s leaders escape from Gaza through the Philadelphia Corridor border area.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli army investigated the alleged document published by Bild and “found that it was not written by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but was a proposal from a mid-level Hamas official.”

“The document does not contain the quote with which the German newspaper claimed that Hamas was not interested in the agreement,” it said.

The London-based weekly newspaper The Jewish Chronicle also claimed to have received documents showing that Hamas was planning to smuggle Israelis held captive in Gaza to Iran.

“An examination of all databases of seized materials collected since the start of the ground exercise in Gaza revealed that no one in the military intelligence unit to which this material is directed, or in the intelligence community in general, has any idea about it or who is behind it,” Yedioth Ahronoth said.

The news agency cited an Israeli military official familiar with the details of the investigation as saying: “This is a very serious matter.”

“There are systems in the army and other intelligence agencies whose task is to influence the enemy, but according to the law it is forbidden to try to operate such a system to exert influence, and certainly not through the superficial use of secret materials that are not allowed to become public at all,” the official said.

“This is a campaign to influence the Israeli public. We are not dealing with politics here, but with a completely wrong move, and we are determined to find the person or party behind it,” he claimed.

Hamas made no comment on the alleged leaked documents.

For months, the United States, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas to exchange prisoners and agree to a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. But mediation efforts have stalled because Netanyahu refuses to meet Hamas’ demands for an end to the war.

Security officials, opposition figures and families of Israeli hostages in Gaza accuse Netanyahu of obstructing a prisoner exchange with Hamas. They fear that this could lead to the collapse of his governing coalition and his loss of power. They are calling for his resignation.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive against the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack on October 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Since then, more than 41,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and nearly 95,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The ongoing blockade of the enclave has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine and left large parts of the region in ruins.

Israel is accused of genocide before the International Court of Justice for its actions in the Gaza Strip.