Hamas Claims Google Earth Led Spy WarHAMAS overnight claimed Palestinian Authority agents collaborated with Israel during the Gaza offensive, including using Google Earth to pinpoint targets in the Islamist-run territory.
"With the help of the Google Earth program, those groups prepared maps to localise mosques, institutions, tunnels or workshops," said Abu Abdallah, a senior intelligence officer in the Hamas government which rules the Gaza Strip.
The targets were then hit by the Israeli air force, he said.
Abu Abdallah said the information included plans of the home of the Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya as well as the location of tunnels and weapons caches.
Hamas officials showed videos of alleged confessions by men who said they were members of Fatah, the secular archrivals of Hamas and the main faction in the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The PA has held sway only in the West Bank since forces loyal to president Mahmoud Abbas were ousted from Gaza when Hamas seized power in June 2007.
"Officers and members of the Ramallah security services tasked their agents with tracking the movements of the resistance in Gaza," the spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry said, referring to the West Bank city where the PA has it headquarters.
"This information was sent to Ramallah then transmitted to the enemy which hit targets on the basis of this information collected before and during the war," Ihab al-Ghossein said.
In Ramallah, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to the Palestinian president, condemned the accusations from Hamas.
"This is part of a plan being carried out by Hamas leadership in Damascus to push back the Cairo dialogue," he said, referring to Palestinian reconciliation talks due tomorrow between Fatah and Hamas.
The 22-day Israeli offensive that ended on January 18 caused massive devastation and killed more than 1300 Palestinians, and 13 Israelis.
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