The terrorist group Hamas seized sensitive intelligence resources during its takeover of the Gaza Strip in June, according to the Wall Street Journal. The leaders of Hamas claim they “acquired thousands of paper files, computer records, videos, photographs and audio recordings containing valuable and potentially embarrassing intelligence information gathered by Fatah” (July 30).

The history of cooperation between Fatah and the United States Central Intelligence Agency goes back to 1996, when cia Director George Tenet began working with one of Fatah’s top leaders, Mohammed Dahlan, who cooperated with the U.S. to enforce the Oslo accords. The U.S. helped to set up signals intelligence (known as “sigint” to the intelligence community) for Fatah. Sigint technology “can include eavesdropping equipment, devices used for intercepting radio, microwave and telephone communications and telemetry technology that allows the user to pinpoint the location of someone holding a communication device, such as a cellphone” (ibid.).

More importantly, however, Hamas also acquired the cia-developed methodology behind the technology. According to a senior Hamas official in Gaza, “What we have is good enough for us to completely reveal the practices [of Fatah-controlled security services], both locally and throughout the region.” More than simply obtaining technology, Hamas has learned how that technology is used by others.

Avi Dichter, Israel’s public security minister and former head of Israel’s domestic intelligence and counterterrorism agency, confirmed the potential validity of Hamas’s claims, saying that Hamas seized more than sigint technology from the U.S., the British and the French during its takeover of Gaza: “It’s not only the tools. It’s also the philosophy behind them.”

Hamas’s victory could also expose intelligence operatives and operations in the Middle East. Hamas senior leader Khalil al-Hayya claims to have the names of men who helped the cia, specifically “those men whom thought were going to continue to be their hand across the region.” Former U.S. intelligence officials confirmed that those relationships did exist and probably still do, so Hayya’s claims could be legitimate. One cia officer even said that the first good information about Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s came from the Palestinians.

Hamas could also reveal details about espionage in other Middle East countries; Hayya specifically mentioned Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Hamas’s victory in Gaza shows the potential danger of the U.S. supporting Fatah. Millions of dollars in American weapons and a wealth of intelligence information were lost in June. Now the U.S. is considering backing an international effort to bolster Fatah’s security services. Dichter said Hamas gained about the same number of weapons in a few days in June that it would normally have obtained in a year of smuggling. Any help the West provides to Fatah—a fair-weather friend at best—will likely end up pointed back at Israel in the future. Also, Hamas’s discoveries will surely be shared with its benefactors in Iran and Syria.

The high costs of the Hamas takeover in Gaza continue to be counted. Continue to watch for where that dramatic victory will lead the forces of radicalism next.