GAZA CITY, Palestine: A Hamas security official has accused Israeli forces of using drugs to recruit young people in Gaza for security and espionage missions.
He said the Israeli forces are working to create and prolong issues that would lead to the emergence of criminal gangs, as it directed them to destabilise security in the Palestinian territory, Al Jazeera reported.
He also said the group has prevented an attempt by Israel to smuggle spying equipment and modern phones to collaborators in the Gaza Strip so they could carry out missions.
The official stated that drugs are often used to “ensnare young people, bring them down, and assign them to security and espionage missions” and that agents had been smuggling large quantities of drugs from intelligence officers assigned to the aid teams that have access to the aid distribution points.
Israeli intelligence officers use the aid distribution points as a recruiting ground, the Hamas official said.
Total death toll surpasses 57,130
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s military campaign on Gaza has killed 57,130 Palestinians and injured 135,173 others, the statement published on Telegram said.
Israel’s military did not have an immediate comment on the strikes, the Associated Press reported.
The Israeli military’s ongoing bombardment campaign has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the war.
More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of people hungry.
The deadly attacks took place as Israel and Hamas inch closer to a possible ceasefire deal that would end the 21-month Israeli bombardment campaign.
