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Security officials arrest Israeli Arab mother recruited by Hamas

Shabak security service arrested an Israeli-Arab mother of two suspected of raising money and sourcing equipment for the Hamas terror organization.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

Israel’s Shabak security service arrested a young Israeli-Arab mother of two who they suspect was recruited as an agent for the Hamas terror organization, Ynet reported Sunday.

Aya Khatib, 31, from the town of Ar’ara some 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Tel Aviv was arrested 2 months ago. During her interrogation she admitted to having been recruited by two members of Hamas’ military wing to help the terror group by organizing funds for terror attacks and gathering intelligence.

Khatib apparently worked on behalf of charity organizations raising money for sick and needy people who live under harsh Hamas military rule in the Gaza Strip, but instead funneled hundreds of thousands of shekels to the terrorist group.

Her clandestine activities included finding military-related equipment for Hamas to use and investigating options for transferring additional sensitive equipment that could be used to build tunnels and to observe IDF forces.

The investigation revealed that Khatib also provided intelligence information to Hamas, including details of the movement of Israeli military forces during one of the rounds of fighting with Hamas with the Gaza Strip.

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Hamas, the Iran-backed terror group that seized power in the Gaza Strip in a bloody 2007 military coup, totally rejects the Middle East peace process and has the goal of destroying Israel and replacing it with an Islamic state.

Israeli security forces are involved in an ongoing behind-the-scenes war with Hamas, which is constantly trying to recruit members both from within Israel’s Arab population and from the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria to carry out terror attacks.

On Friday, dozens of protesters demonstrated outside the Haifa Magistrate’s Court in support of Khatib. The participants waved pictures of Khatib with her children, saying that Khatib had been wronged and her charitable activities were “for the benefit of the Arab society contributing to needy families,” Ynet reported.

A similar rally two weeks ago in Acre was also attended by Knesset Member Yousef Jabareen, a member of Knesset from the Joint Arab List, Israeli Islamic officials Sheikh Kamal Khatib and former Knesset-member Mohammad Barakeh of the Hadash communist party.

Barakeh is known for joining an official 2010 Israeli delegation to the Auschwitz death camp for which he was criticized by both Jews and Arabs, but which left him shocked by what he saw.

The Shabak released only some details of  the Khatib case that is still under a court order prohibiting the release of more information.