A Hamas fighter. Photo: Wikipedia.

According to Al Bawabh News, Hamas is trying to hush up a major sex scandal involving young boys in a Gaza mosque.

A prominent Hamas member is accused of engaging in sex acts with young boys after enticing them with promises of teaching them Jihad and the Quran.

According to the story, he pretended to be teaching the boys martial arts. He evaluated their “performance” and if he felt that they wouldn’t resist, he would make his move. He told them that the sex acts were allowed under Islamic law if it was consensual, and he characterized the children who fell under his influence as “Mujahadeen Heroes.”

The man told his victims that he would stay in touch with them through social media.

There are two complicating factors that are stopping Hamas from arresting him.

One is that the sex offender is a hero, a “symbol of symbols,” a 45-year old who was a prisoner in Israeli jails for 18 years and who was released under the Shalit deal.

The other is that the pedophile is not from Gaza, but from Hebron, and arresting him could cause sectarian problems between different tribes.

Sources say that Hamas is now trying to smuggle him out of Gaza so as not to deal with the issue.

From looking at the list of people who were released in the Shalit deal the most likely person seems to be Maedh Waal Taleb Abu Sharakh, sentenced to 19 life terms for the attack on bus No. 37 in Haifa in 2002 that killed 17. He is about 45 years old, from Hebron, a Hamas member, and clearly a ‘symbol of symbols’ and sent to Gaza as part of the deal. He had been in prison only about 9 years but he might have had other stints in jail.