Israeli authorities charge four East Jerusalem residents with acts of terrorism

The State Prosecutor’s Office charged four Palestinians from East Jerusalem for acts of terrorism and promoting Hamas operations in the city.

The main suspect is Khaled Sabah, who, according to the indictment was in charge of Hamas activities in Jerusalem and transferred funds from Turkey to support Hamas members in Israel.

Sabah, the indictment states, was also tasked to “establish and operate a military and organizational infrastructure in Jerusalem” for Hamas.

The three other men indicted are Sabah’s two sons, Munib and Musa’ab, and Firas Tutah. They are all charged with leading and run a terrorist organization, as well as promoting and funding terrorist acts and money laundering. They were arrested in February in a joint police and Shin Bet operation.

The States’s Prosecutor requested to detain the suspects until the legal proceedings against them were exhausted and ordered to freeze their assets.

In 2019, senior Hamas leaders in Turkey put Khaled Sabah in charge of Hamas funding in Jerusalem. As part of this position, Sabah withdrew $250,000 from Hamas accounts in Turkey and along with his two sons, he distributed the money to Hamas members and their families in Israel.

Khaled Sabah also allegedly met with senior Hamas leaders in Turkey, including Zakaria Najib, who was convicted for his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman in 1994. Sabah’s wife and sons joined him on some of his trips to Turkey to disguise the trips as family vacations.

Tutah is charged with raising 4 million shekels in funds between 2012 and 2022 for the Lajnat Zakat al-Quds nonprofit organization, whose supposed mission was to collect and distribute charity – and which was given to families supporting Hamas. From 2007 to 2020, the group paid out about 28 million shekels, states the indictment.

Source: Haaretz