Israeli special forces posing as medical aid workers used “detailed but fake” ID cards of real Gaza citizens in their botched intelligence raid in the strip last month, and may have entered through an official crossing, Hamas officials have claimed.

The Gaza citizens whose identities had been “stolen” allegedly hail from across the tiny 25-mile-long enclave but not the area where the Israeli uncover operation was taking place. This was in case they were discovered by local residents, according to several officials within Hamas, the militant group which runs the strip.

Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman, said its security wing detained and questioned all the Palestinians whose identities appeared on ID cards that were discovered in around the wreckage of a vehicle used by the Israeli special forces squad who were 3km into south Gaza’s Khan Younis district when their cover was blown. The cards were “very accurate,” Mr Qassem added: they included the correct full names, ID numbers and details of the residents.

Mr Qassem said that while several people had been arrested, to his knowledge those whose identities had been used were released “as they genuinely knew nothing”.

He said that the Israeli soldiers were posing as aid workers when their car was stopped.

“They had detailed but fake ID cards of Gaza residents which were found [in the wreckage]. Those who the Israelis were posing as were detained but they had no idea their names had been used,” he told The Independent from Gaza City.

“[The Israeli unit] were posing as NGO workers, there were women in the car as well. They used this to justify why they were stealing into Gaza and had a story prepared should they be questioned,” he added.

However, the Hamas official denied recent reports in Israeli news outlet Walla and the Israeli Television News Company that the Israeli squad had successfully set up and were operating a non-governmental organisation within Gaza.

He would not go into details about what was believed to be the purpose of the Israeli raid in Gaza. The Israeli army declined to comment about any of the allegations.

However, another Hamas official, who asked to remain anonymous as he is not permitted to speak to the media, said the Israeli forces were in Gaza to replace listening and surveillance devices that had been laid before.

At least eight people, including an Israeli lieutenant-colonel and a local Hamas brigade commander, were killed on 11 November when Hamas operatives confronted a team of undercover Israeli male and female operatives in the southern Gaza district of Khan Younis.

A firefight ensued, and Israeli warplanes and helicopters launched a wave of air strikes on the area apparently to cover their soldiers as they fled back to Israel. Gaza’s fighters hit back with the heaviest bombardment of rocket fire since the last conflict in 2014, prompting fresh airstrikes. Both sides were on the brink of another war, and a further eight people were killed until Egypt brokered a fresh ceasefire which remains in place.

The Israeli army declined to comment about any of the latest allegations when contacted by The Independent. Earlier in the week, the army announced it was opening two separate investigations into the botched raid. A military gag on details of the probe is in place.

At the time of the raid, the army said a special force was carrying out “a lengthy operation and encountered a very complex reality” without giving details. The military added that these kinds of operations were carried out “regularly” and were essential to the security of the country.

But many now fear that foreign aid workers will be at risk, and their work in Gaza curtailed if it is proven that the Israeli special forces did, in fact, impersonate NGO workers.

Security has certainly been tightened with the coastal enclave.

The Independent noticed additional checkpoints throughout the territory, as well as more stringent questioning at the border upon entry.

Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Show all 23 1 /23 Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures A ball of fire above the building housing the Hamas-run television station al-Aqsa TV in the Gaza Strip during an Israeli air strike AFP/Getty Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile systems firing toward missiles fired from the Gaza Strip near the southern city of Sderot, Israel. Israeli army report that approximately 300 missile launches were identified from the Gaza strip toward Israel. Dozens of launches were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system EPA Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Israeli soldiers take cover near the Israel Gaza border AP Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures A bus set ablaze after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. Israel's military said it was carrying out air strikes "throughout the Gaza Strip" on Monday after rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave towards its territory AFP/Getty Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Palestinians inspect a rubble of a destroyed internal security building of Hamas interior ministry after Israeli air strike in Gaza City EPA Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures A Palestinian girl walks up the stairs of her family house that was damaged in an Israeli air strike REUTERS Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Fire and smoke billow following Israeli air strikes targeting Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, near the border with Egypt AFP/Getty Images Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Missiles from Israel's Iron Dome air defence system in the south of Israel destroy incoming missiles AFP/Getty Images Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Israeli security forces and firefighters gather near abuilding set ablaze after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Israeli town of Sderot AFP/Getty Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures epa07162276 A Palestinian girl stands between the rubble of her family house close a destroyed building of Al-Aqsa channel belonging to Hamas movement after Israeli air strike in Gaza City, 13 November 2018. According to reports, Palestinian militants fired 300 rockets and mortars at Israel from the Gaza Strip. The Israel army responded with strikes on what it said were targets belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER MOHAMMED SABER EPA Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures A picture taken on November 12, 2018 shows a ball of fire above the building housing the Hamas-run television station al-Aqsa TV in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike. - Israel's military said it was carrying out air strikes "throughout the Gaza Strip" after rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave towards its territory. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)BASHAR TALEB/AFP/Getty Images BASHAR TALEB AFP/Getty Images Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures A ruble of a destroyed building of Al-Aqsa channel belonging to Hamas movement EPA Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Israeli security forces and firefighters gather near a bus set ablaze after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave AFP Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Relatives of Mohammed Ouda, killed in an Israeli air stike the previous day, mourn during his funeral in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP/Getty Images Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Missiles from Israel's Iron Dome air defence system in the south of Israel destroy incoming missiles fired at Israel from the Palestinian enclave AFP/Getty Images Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Israeli soldiers sit atop a Merkava tank stationed along the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip AFP/Getty Images Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Black smoke rises as an Israeli airstrike hits a residential building in Gaza City AP Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Palestinians look out of their house that was damaged in an Israeli air strike REUTERS Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Palestinians hold placards and the Palestinian flag during a protest in solidarity with Gaza, in the West Bank city of Hebron EPA Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures An Israeli policeman inspects the damage in a building caused a day earlier by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon AFP/Getty Images Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures A Palestinian boy inspects the rubble of a destroyed residential building after Israeli air strike in Gaza City EPA Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures A man stands inside a house damaged by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip overnight, in the Israeli city of Ashkelon November 13, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY RONEN ZVULUN REUTERS Gaza crisis: heavy cross-border fire in pictures Palestinians survey a destroyed residential building hit by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) Hatem Moussa AP

Local officials did not grant The Independent permission to visit the site of the botched raid and warned the outlet against doing so without permits, saying the area was under investigation.

Mr Qassem said, however, that the Gaza authorities were “dedicated” to ensuring the entry and freedom of movement of foreign aid workers and journalists into the enclave as they were needed amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by an 11-year-old Israeli-imposed siege on the strip.

“We are concerned that we want foreigners to keep coming in. They are helping with the humanitarian situation. We are dedicated to facilitating people coming in and out of Gaza. Any tightened security measures – which are applied to everyone – will be temporary,” he added.

One Hamas official, who asked to speak anonymously, offered further details about the ongoing Palestinian investigation into the incident. He claimed the Israeli team initially told the fighters at the checkpoint they were medical workers who worked on delivering patients back to their houses after treatment.

He added there was a “high possibility” the team legally entered Gaza through an official crossing point such as Erez.

The official said: “They told the fighters at the checkpoint that they were delivering patients back from clinics to their homes and had a wheelchair in the back of the van. They presented their ID cars but the [fighters] manning the checkpoint were suspicious as their accents and voices did not match the areas where they said they were from.”

They told the fighters at the checkpoint that they we are delivering patients back from clinics to their homes and had a wheelchair in the back of the van Hamas official

The official claimed that several senior officers were summoned until Noureddin Baraka, a local Hamas commander, was called in. He decided to take the undercover Israeli team in for further questioning at a nearby military camp which led the Israeli soldiers to open fire, killing Baraka and his deputy.

“There is a high possibility the Israeli team initially entered via an official entry point [with Israel] like Erez, but this is not confirmed,” the Hamas source added.

He echoed the Hamas spokesman’s denial that the team were operating a functioning NGO within the strip.

Local residents and prominent figures in the area, which is on the main street between the Khan Younis towns of Abasan Kabira and Khuza’a, told The Independent the Israeli soldiers were travelling in a Volkswagen minibus and had a wheelchair in the back of the van which they said they were using to deliver patients.

They claimed Mr Baraka had known one of the specific cases they mentioned and was able to call the family that confirmed the disabled woman in question had in fact recently passed away.

A grocery shop owner in the area, who asked to only be identified as Abu Ahmed for fear of reprisals, said he was first alerted to the incident when the firefight erupted, although at first he believed it be celebratory gunfire for a wedding.

He said the Israeli army escaped through the farmlands belonging to a local Gazan man who is reportedly currently missing.

None of the claims could be independently verified.

For the moment, a tense ceasefire still holds in Gaza. Officials within Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which is listed as a terror group in the UK and has a powerful armed wing within the enclave, said they were “committed” to the truce should the Israelis respect it.

However privately both Hamas and Islamic Jihad admitted they were “not letting their guard down” because they believed further air strikes in Gaza “may be on the cards”.

Many in Israel, including residents under rocket fire near to the Gaza border, have urged Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue pounding Hamas targets to reduce its capabilities, fearing a ceasefire at this point would be a loss for Israel and only see more fighting down the line.

Residents of southern Israel protest in Tel Aviv against the ceasefire with Gaza (Reuters) (Photo: Ammar Awad / Reuters)

Mr Netanyahu, who has refrained from ordering further strikes, only just rescued his ruling coalition from the brink of collapse last week when he managed to convince Israel’s powerful education minister Naftali Bennett to stick with the alliance after they fell out over the ceasefire.

The crisis was triggered two weeks ago when defence minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned and abandoned the coalition over the truce with Hamas, leaving Mr Netanyahu with a knife-edge one-seat majority in parliament.

Mr Bennett was expected to follow suit but in a surprise statement said he would stick with the government and coalition if Mr Netanyahu was serious in his intention to “make Israel win again” and continue action against Hamas in Gaza.

Dozens of rockets being fired from Gaza at Israeli civilians

Back in Gaza, officials said they felt there was a “cautious calm” and so the fighters remained “on guard”.

“If the Israelis launch a new attack, the Palestinian [fighters] are ready to deal with this attack,” Walid al-Qottati, a member of Islamic Jihad’s political wing, told The Independent.

“But we do not want a war, as it will only bring suffering to the people,” he added.

A Hamas official agreed.