Senior member of Hamas military wing defects to Israel

The Internet site of the official newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, Al-Hayat al-Jadida, reported Tuesday that a senior member of the Izaddin al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas in Gaza, has defected to Israel. According to the brief Arabic-language report, the family of Bassam Mahmoud Baraka received an official message from representatives of the Red Cross that their son had turned himself in to the Israeli authorities near the Gaza border fence, and that he is now in the hands of Israel.