Israel issues rare indictment against Hezbollah agent for espionage, terrorism

The suspect was indicted for being a member of a terrorist organization, infiltration and espionage after he spied for months on the IDF. 

By World Israel News Staff

In a rare case, a Syrian national who served as a Hezbollah operative was indicted for being a member of a terrorist organization and espionage after he collected classified information on the IDF for months, according to the indictment filed by the northern district prosecutor’s office.

The suspect, Ayat Abdullah, was caught in an IDF ambush on January 27 after he infiltrated Israeli territory.

The case, led by Investigative Officer Matan Turgeman, found that Abdullah, who lives in the Syrian Golan, was recruited at the end of 2019 by a Hezbollah operative with the purpose of gathering intelligence about IDF movements in his area of ​​residence and along the border between Syria and Israel, ostensibly for the “Syrian State Security” organization, the indictment said. It later became clear that his handler was a Hezbollah operative, the Abdullah continued reporting to him nonetheless.

“He was asked to document the movements of the IDF, the capacity of troops and the type of IDF vehicles, the number of vehicles, and their movements, including times and directions,” the indictment states. “He was instructed to observe, and document what he saw.”

Abdullah’s handler would arrive at his home twice a month to pay him in exchange for his reports and for a memory card of photographs taken by the spy, the statement said.

In May 2022, Abdullah’s brother-in-law Abed Rahman was killed in an explosion that Hezbollah claimed Israel was behind. Abdullah received a sum of cash from his handler to pass onto Al-Rahman’s widow.

Attorney Ala Atmana, who represents Abdullah on behalf of the Public Defender’s Office, responded: “This is a normal fellow, without any criminal record and he denies all the offenses attributed to him. According to him, he was arrested in Syrian territory and we will demand that he be deported back to his country. There is no legal reason to detain him.”