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Monday, May 13, 2024
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Israel-Hamas War

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SECRET HAMAS FILES SHOW HOW IT SPIED ON EVERYDAY PALESTINIANS

Hamas monitored political activity, online posts, and apparently even love
lives. Palestinians were stuck between an Israeli blockade and a repressive
security force.

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A rally in support of Hamas in Gaza City in 2022. A secret police force overseen
by Hamas’s leader in the enclave utilizes an extensive network of
informants.Credit...Fatima Shbair/Associated Press

By Adam Rasgon and Ronen Bergman

Adam Rasgon reported from Jerusalem, and Ronen Bergman from Tel Aviv.

May 13, 2024, 5:03 a.m. ET
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The Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has for years overseen a secret police force in
Gaza that conducted surveillance on everyday Palestinians and built files on
young people, journalists and those who questioned the government, according to
intelligence officials and a trove of internal documents reviewed by The New
York Times.

The unit, known as the General Security Service, relied on a network of Gaza
informants, some of whom reported their own neighbors to the police. People
landed in security files for attending protests or publicly criticizing Hamas.
In some cases, the records suggest that the authorities followed people to
determine if they were carrying on romantic relationships outside marriage.

Hamas has long run an oppressive system of governance in Gaza, and many
Palestinians there know that security officials watch them closely. But a
62-slide presentation on the activities of the General Security Service,
delivered only weeks before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, reveals the degree to
which the largely unknown unit penetrated the lives of Palestinians.

The documents show that Hamas leaders, despite claiming to represent the people
of Gaza, would not tolerate even a whiff of dissent. Security officials trailed
journalists and people they suspected of immoral behavior. Agents got criticism
removed from social media and discussed ways to defame political adversaries.
Political protests were viewed as threats to be undermined.



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Everyday Gazans were stuck — behind the wall of Israel’s crippling blockade and
under the thumb and constant watch of a security force. That dilemma continues
today, with the added threat of Israeli ground troops and airstrikes.

“We’re facing bombardment by the occupation and thuggery by the local
authorities,” Ehab Fasfous, a journalist in the Gaza Strip who appeared in the
files of the General Security Service, said in a phone interview from Gaza.

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Adam Rasgon reports from Israel for The Times's Jerusalem bureau. More about
Adam Rasgon

Ronen Bergman is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, based in Tel
Aviv. His latest book is “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s
Targeted Assassinations,” published by Random House. More about Ronen Bergman

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