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Israeli Forces 'Abduct' Gaza Security Officer
(MENAFN) Israeli special forces "abducted" a Palestinian Internal Security officer as he carried out routine duties in western Gaza City on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip said.
The ministry identified the officer as Maeen Mohammed al-Arabid, saying he was wounded in a clash with the Israeli unit, while his wife was killed and several of his children were injured.
According to a ministry statement detailing the operation in the al-Katiba area, the Israeli military opened the assault before dawn Tuesday with a heavy bombardment involving dozens of warplanes. Under cover of that bombardment, it said, an Israeli special forces team slipped into the area using civilian vehicles.
The unit "abducted" al-Arabid after wounding him in an exchange of gunfire, the ministry said, adding that the broader operation also killed several Palestinians, including children, and injured many more.
The ministry said al-Arabid "was carrying out his routine duties as part of his service to our people and efforts to maintain security and civil peace in the Gaza Strip."
It went further, accusing Israel of a three-year campaign targeting Gaza's police and security institutions, saying hundreds of ministry and police commanders, officers and personnel have been killed. Attacks on police and Internal Security services, the ministry said, have escalated since the October 2025 ceasefire took hold — a rise it linked to those forces' role in "maintaining security, protecting civil peace and supporting citizens."
The ministry cautioned against "being drawn into the [Israeli] occupation's narratives about the incident" and warned of misleading accounts it said were being spread by Israeli intelligence agencies. It called on the ceasefire's mediators and guarantors to press Israel to end its attacks and its continued targeting of the Interior Ministry's security agencies.
Separately, medical sources told media that three Palestinians were killed and more than 20 others, including children, were wounded in intense Israeli strikes on the Al-Katiba area earlier Tuesday. Witnesses described more than 16 strikes within a span of under 30 minutes, accompanied by heavy gunfire and continuous overhead activity from warplanes and drones.
Ismail al-Thawabta, director-general of Gaza's government media office, said an Israeli special forces unit had tried to carry out a covert operation inside the city but was spotted, prompting the Israeli military to provide air cover. He said the raid left Palestinians dead and wounded, and also killed several members of the Israeli special forces unit.
The Israeli military, for its part, said it struck "a number of targets" in Gaza City to "remove threats" to its forces, and denied any of its troops were hurt. Defense Minister Israel Katz separately claimed Israeli forces had detained a "senior Hamas leader," without naming him.
Al-Katiba ranks among the most densely populated displacement areas in western Gaza, home to the American Hospital, several universities and commercial businesses — a concentration that heightened the danger to civilians and sparked panic among displaced families sheltering in tents nearby.
Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement have killed 1,318 Palestinians and wounded 4,375 more, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which said rescue teams have also pulled hundreds of additional bodies from the rubble. As of Tuesday, the ministry put the overall death toll from Israel's military campaign in Gaza since October 2023 at approximately 73,462, with 174,509 wounded.
The ministry identified the officer as Maeen Mohammed al-Arabid, saying he was wounded in a clash with the Israeli unit, while his wife was killed and several of his children were injured.
According to a ministry statement detailing the operation in the al-Katiba area, the Israeli military opened the assault before dawn Tuesday with a heavy bombardment involving dozens of warplanes. Under cover of that bombardment, it said, an Israeli special forces team slipped into the area using civilian vehicles.
The unit "abducted" al-Arabid after wounding him in an exchange of gunfire, the ministry said, adding that the broader operation also killed several Palestinians, including children, and injured many more.
The ministry said al-Arabid "was carrying out his routine duties as part of his service to our people and efforts to maintain security and civil peace in the Gaza Strip."
It went further, accusing Israel of a three-year campaign targeting Gaza's police and security institutions, saying hundreds of ministry and police commanders, officers and personnel have been killed. Attacks on police and Internal Security services, the ministry said, have escalated since the October 2025 ceasefire took hold — a rise it linked to those forces' role in "maintaining security, protecting civil peace and supporting citizens."
The ministry cautioned against "being drawn into the [Israeli] occupation's narratives about the incident" and warned of misleading accounts it said were being spread by Israeli intelligence agencies. It called on the ceasefire's mediators and guarantors to press Israel to end its attacks and its continued targeting of the Interior Ministry's security agencies.
Separately, medical sources told media that three Palestinians were killed and more than 20 others, including children, were wounded in intense Israeli strikes on the Al-Katiba area earlier Tuesday. Witnesses described more than 16 strikes within a span of under 30 minutes, accompanied by heavy gunfire and continuous overhead activity from warplanes and drones.
Ismail al-Thawabta, director-general of Gaza's government media office, said an Israeli special forces unit had tried to carry out a covert operation inside the city but was spotted, prompting the Israeli military to provide air cover. He said the raid left Palestinians dead and wounded, and also killed several members of the Israeli special forces unit.
The Israeli military, for its part, said it struck "a number of targets" in Gaza City to "remove threats" to its forces, and denied any of its troops were hurt. Defense Minister Israel Katz separately claimed Israeli forces had detained a "senior Hamas leader," without naming him.
Al-Katiba ranks among the most densely populated displacement areas in western Gaza, home to the American Hospital, several universities and commercial businesses — a concentration that heightened the danger to civilians and sparked panic among displaced families sheltering in tents nearby.
Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement have killed 1,318 Palestinians and wounded 4,375 more, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which said rescue teams have also pulled hundreds of additional bodies from the rubble. As of Tuesday, the ministry put the overall death toll from Israel's military campaign in Gaza since October 2023 at approximately 73,462, with 174,509 wounded.
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