Full footage of Zikim terrorist infiltration leaked to Palestinian media

The film, compiled for an internal IDF intelligence inquiry, shows a significantly longer battle than version presented to the public.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Hacked footage of Hamas terrorists infiltrating Zikim beach
The IDF launched an urgent investigation after a film from an internal inquiry into a July 8 raid by Hamas naval commandos on Zikim Beach was leaked, reaching Palestinian media networks.
The footage, compiled as part of the military’s analysis of the incident in which Hamas commandos swam from Gaza to Israeli territory and attempted to storm Zikim Beach before being killed during Operation Protective Edge, presents a significantly longer battle than the version shown by the IDF at the time of the incident.
The IDF had apparently withheld sections of the movie showing terrorists running up to a D9 bulldozer and planting an explosive on it, as well as hurling a grenade at a tank, for security reasons.
“This [movie] is an internal IDF investigation, and the leak forms a severe incident that will be investigated and dealt with accordingly, and not through the media,” the IDF Spokesman’s Office said.
Users of the Whatsapp smartphone chat application also shared the movie, which featured audio communications between the Israel Navy’s Erez Regional Control Center that detected the terrorists and military units that attempted to take down the hostile cell members, succeeding after a lengthy effort.
According to IDF assessments, the commando unit was dispatched in July by senior terrorist operative Ahmed Andur, who is active in northern Gaza.
It showed how tanks, cannon fire from a Dvora navy boat, and ultimately the air force were all called upon to strike the terrorist cell’s members.
During the incident, police closed off the vicinity and told local residents to stay indoors.
Hamas’s military wing, Izzadin Kassam, claimed at the time on its Twitter account that it “stormed the Zionist naval base on the shores of the sea.”
Reuters contributed to this report.