[JPost] Didn't they deny it? Acknowledgment follows denial he passed information before defecting.
Why yes, yes they did
After denying such reports, Hamas has now confirmed that one of its naval commanders fled to Israel after providing it with intelligence.
Abu Mohammed, a Hamas military spokesman, told The Media Line that the defector was a junior officer in the organization's highly regarded naval unit.
The daring escape was first reported on Saturday by the Saudi news channel Al Arabiya, which said the officer and his brother escaped with a laptop and surveillance equipment as part of a 72-hour operation led by Israel's Mossad spy agency.
Hamas immediately issued a statement calling the report "fake news" benefitting Israel, and harshly criticized the news outlet.
"The aim [of the report] is to harm the Palestinian people and [damage] their confidence in the resistance and liberation project," Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said at the time. "Al Arabiya is promoting rumors that serve the occupation by destabilizing the home front in Gaza."