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Al Jazeera releases footage from botched IDF operation in Gaza in 2018

Qatar-based TV network shows the fake Palestinian IDs reportedly used by the Israeli commando unit that attempted to infiltrate Khan Yunis last November, along with details of the soldiers’ true identities.

In the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Nablus, Hamas supporters attend a rally marking the 30th anniversary of the terror group’s founding, Dec. 15, 2017. Credit: Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90.
In the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Nablus, Hamas supporters attend a rally marking the 30th anniversary of the terror group’s founding, Dec. 15, 2017. Credit: Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90.

Previously unreleased video from a botched Israel Defense Forces operation in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip last year was released by Al Jazeera TV on Sunday.

The operation last November led to the death of a senior Israeli intelligence officer in a firefight with Hamas operatives in Gaza, which broke out when his unit’s cover was blown.

According to the Al Jazeera report, 17 soldiers, including two women, entered the coastal enclave in two vehicles under the guise of an extended family.

The report showed fake Palestinian identification papers used by the IDF commando unit, as well as details of the Israelis’ true identities and even their seating arrangements in the vehicles, which were seized by Hamas, Ynet reported.

A recording of the Israeli team after the exchange of fire shows them speaking Hebrew as a soldier is apparently given medical treatment.

The report also showed what it said was one of the IDF soldiers that participated in the raid posing as a volunteer for a German aid organization.

The Israeli soldier who died during the operation, Lt. Col. M, was a 41-year-old Druze father of two. Another soldier was moderately wounded during the operation.

The team was evacuated back to Israel via helicopter.

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