Palestinian-Israeli woman indicted for ‘working with Hamas’

Israeli prosecutors issued an indictment on Wednesday afternoon against a Palestinian-Israeli citizen who is accused of working with the military wing of Hamas, Safa news agency has reported. Aya Al-Khatib worked as a medical assistant in Israel for Palestinian patients from the Gaza Strip, and is also a member of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel and an activist for Al-Aqsa Mosque.

According to the Israeli website Wallah, Al-Khatib was arrested along with her husband on 17 February. They were banned from having a meeting with a lawyer at the time. Her husband was later released.

The indictment claims that she was recruited by Muhammad Felfel and Mohamed Halawa from Gaza, both of whom are alleged to be members of Al-Qassam Brigades.

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The prosecutors allege that Al-Khatib first met with Felfel in 2017 when he was accompanying his daughter for treatment at one of the Palestinian hospitals in Israel. Since then, she has allegedly been sending money for Hamas and Al-Qassam Brigades, and is accused of being linked to other Qassam operatives and passing intelligence about Israeli targets to them. Finally, the indictment says that she raised funds to be used to buy equipment for the resistance tunnels and making weapons in Gaza.

A court in Israel has extended her detention by two weeks in order to have time to complete the legal procedures related to her case.