The Wall Street Journal said, on Wednesday, that the Israeli commandos, which carried out the operation to free four detainees in Gaza, last June 8 in the Nuseirat camp, used two dilapidated white cars - one displaying an advertisement for soap, and the other carrying a mattress and furniture on the roof. "They were of course armed, but their main weapon was disguise, as they infiltrated one of Hamas' strongholds until the guns started firing."

According to the newspaper, “this rescue mission (on 6/8) became the most prominent example of the famous Israeli secret units on the battlefield in the Gaza Strip, a dangerous foray into an area whose secret forces once found almost impenetrable. The trick is a set of skills that they have honed Israeli security services have operated for decades in the West Bank, with activists known as “Mostaza’ribin” – a Hebrew title borrowed from an Arabic term referring to people who disguise themselves as Arabs.

It is noteworthy that several sources confirmed that Israel used humanitarian trucks in the operation to rescue detainees on June 8, which led to a major massacre against the Palestinians, in which more than 300 Palestinian civilians were killed and hundreds wounded.

According to the newspaper, “Now, the presence of the secret unit in Gaza adds a new, volatile element to the war zone, where a blown cover can be disastrous, and civilian disguise sometimes constitutes a war crime.”

Hamas fighters also operate in civilian clothing in Gaza.

Depicted in the Netflix series "Fauda", the Musta'rabs are celebrated as heroes in Israeli society - and are hated among Palestinians, who view them as illegal assassination squads.

Avi Issakharov, one of the creators of the film “Fauda” and a former member of a secret military unit, told the newspaper, “The hostage rescue operation in Nuseirat was unlike anything he had witnessed. Most of the missions take place in the West Bank, where Israel has long held security control.” .

He added: "What is new is that they carry out secret operations during the war inside enemy territory." "This is what's so crazy."

Israeli military officials said last month's rescue operation in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza relied on weeks of intelligence gathering, training commandos on replicas of buildings housing the hostages, and deploying thousands of soldiers to provide support. Disguise was vital to the daylight operation. Officials said they feared that Hamas guards would kill their captives once they discovered Israeli commandos.

“It's not enough to find the right car. You have to hide it until it works in this specific area,” said Shir Peled, a former undercover fighter in the Israeli police.

The newspaper reveals, "In simultaneous raids on two residential buildings, the teams maintained the element of surprise. Military officials said that Israeli forces overpowered the kidnappers, extracted their reward, and battled in crowded streets to transport the hostages to the beach and whisk them away on helicopters."

The newspaper claims that there were likely undercover Israeli agents in the neighborhood for weeks before the rescue and were present when dealings with Hamas guards began, said Tomer Tzaban, a member of a small secret military unit that operated in the Gaza Strip in the 1990s. Tzaban said Israeli intelligence is now likely to undertake a recruitment spree of local collaborators inside Gaza while Musta'rabs also continue to operate there.

“Under Tzaban’s reign, Gaza was a tough gig,” the newspaper says. “Even before Israel and Egypt imposed the embargo in 2006, there weren’t many visitors, so there were few disguises to choose from, he said, in which construction workers could work.” .

The newspaper notes that Gaza today has become very different. The war left more than 38,000 dead, according to health authorities in Gaza, while Israeli military operations destroyed large areas of the Strip and displaced most of its population of two million people.

"This makes it easier for secret agents," Tsabane said. "Right now, it's a big mess. Every story you tell could be true."

"Last February, Israeli special forces rescued two elderly hostages being held in Rafah, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip. As happened in Operation Nuseirat, Israeli forces infiltrated deep into territory controlled by the Hamas movement without being discovered."

As Israel gains more control over Gaza, it is expected to become more like the West Bank, where Israeli raids are frequent to arrest or kill militants, or rescue hostages in the absence of any agreement for their freedom. This means that covert operations within the enclave are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

“If you want to find hostages or look for senior Hamas leaders, you have to have people on the ground, and they can’t walk around with the Israeli flag,” a person familiar with Israel’s special operations strategy told the newspaper.

This secret tactic poses legal risks to Israeli forces. In wartime, soldiers disguised as civilians risk being accused of treachery, that is, pretending to be persons with protected status to carry out an attack. Treachery has been deemed a war crime to protect people such as health workers from becoming targets.

Israel claims that Hamas's publication of video clips of its fighters dressed as civilians attacking Israeli forces makes Israel target all Palestinians of fighting age.

The newspaper attributed to Michael Schmitt, an expert in the laws of armed conflict at the US Military Academy at West Point, “Treachery does not prevent soldiers from using civilian vehicles or dressing like civilians. It restricts disguise as civilians from getting close enough to kill or wound the enemy, but this is in In Nuseirat, the use of civilian vehicles may have prevented an early firefight and saved lives, and the operation was carried out to rescue the hostages, whose kidnapping itself was a war crime, he said.

Spokesmen for the Israeli army, police and internal security service, known as Shin Bet, refused to answer questions regarding the issue of treachery and their covert operations, including the use of disguise.

Every secret operation represents a mortal danger, and some of them backfire or lead to the death of innocent people, according to the newspaper.

“In 2018, an Israeli team entered Gaza, some of whom pretended to be aid workers, according to Hamas. After Hamas members became suspicious and stopped their car, an exchange of gunfire ensued, killing the Israeli commander, who spoke Arabic. A helicopter took out the rest of the members The team from Gaza.

In Nuseirat, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that 274 people were killed and about 700 others were injured in the battle that broke out during the rescue mission, while the Israeli army claimed that about 100 people were killed or injured, including militants and civilians who were caught in the exchange of fire. One Israeli soldier was killed.

In the West Bank city of Jenin, where there are frequent Israeli raids, militants are trying to confront infiltrators with measures such as checkpoints, a Palestinian activist there said. “The presence of these secret units has made our community feel constantly vulnerable,” the gunman said.

Undercover agents became the mainstay of Israeli national security about 24 years ago, during the Palestinian uprising known as the Second Intifada, when large Palestinian militant networks emerged.

The Shin Bet, the Israeli Police, and the Israeli Army have their own undercover units, and officials from both agencies said that the Nuseirat rescue operation was led by the Yamam police team, and with the assistance of the Shin Bet.