Hamas exploits border crossing to recruit Israeli Arab terror

Two suspects arrested by the Shin Bet had privileges to freely cross the Gaza border to visit their families.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s Shin Bet internal security services have arrested two Israeli Arab citizens who were allegedly working as spies for Hamas.

According to a Shin Bet statement released on Monday, 30-year-old Rami Amoudi and 34-year-old Rajab Dacha were arrested on January 2, in a joint operation involving both the Shin Bet and the Israel Police.

Amoudi, the son of an Israeli Jewish mother and a Gazan Arab father, had been living in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip until November 2019. With the assistance of his mother, Amoudi was granted Israeli citizenship and moved to Tel Aviv.

Dakah, also a son of an Israeli Jewish mother and a Gazan Arab father, gained citizenship in 2017 through his mother and moved from Gaza to Lod in the center of Israel.

Both of them were given privileges by the Israeli government to freely cross the Gaza border to visit their families.

It is a privilege of which Hamas has taken advantage, says the Shin Bet.

During questioning, says the Shin Bet, it learned that Amoudi and Dakah were recruited by Hamas while they were still living in Gaza, and were directed by the terrorist group to use their Jewish lineage to gain Israeli citizenship. They were also ordered to purchase cell phones and SIM cards in order to remain in contact with their Hamas handlers.

Dakah confessed that he photographed potential Israeli targets to pass on to his handlers, such as military bases, police facilities, and locations of Iron Dome air defense batteries.

“Hamas in the Gaza Strip is continuing to cynically take advantage of the Erez crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel to enable it to pursue terrorism inside of Israel,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

“The Shin Bet views the use of Israeli citizens who have access to the Gaza Strip and Israel for the benefit of terrorism very seriously. The Shin Bet will continue to work with Israel Police to prevent spying operations by terror groups in the Gaza Strip,” the internal security agency added.