Published: 27 March 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
AYA KHATIB, A RESIDENT of the Israeli town of Arara and an activist in the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, was recently charged with spying for Hamas and transferring hundreds of thousands of shekels to the group to finance terrorist activities, including the digging of tunnels along Gaza’s border with Israel.
According to Shin Bet, Khatib used her volunteer work on behalf of Palestinians receiving treatment in Israeli hospitals and her humanitarian aid efforts on behalf of Gaza residents to collect intelligence about Israel Defence Forces troop movements.
She also transferred equipment to Hamas' military wing and collected considerable amounts of money for the organization. Furthermore, Khatib is alleged to have taken advantage of her position to coerce ailing Palestinians receiving treatment in Israel and in hospitals in the West Bank to transfer materials to Hamas in Gaza.
She reportedly provided detailed confessions during her interrogation, and her mobile phone contained detailed notes that revealed a close relationship to Hamas activists Mohammed Filfel and Mahmoud Halawa.
This is not the first attempt by Hamas to recruit Israeli Arabs. “What makes this so unusual and so daunting are its scope and the length of time during which she operated,”
said Colonel (res.) Michael Milstein, head of the Forum for Palestinian Studies at the Moshe Dayan Centre
Since Khatib's arrested on February 17, Israel's Arab community has been conflicted over whether to support Khatib, with divisions being aired in public.
FULL STORY Hamas spy story shakes up Arab society, Israeli politics (Al-Monitor)
Photo: Aya Khatib (Shin Bet)
