Israeli police and Secret Security Services, Shin Bet, reported on Sunday that Israeli security forces arrested two Arab residents of Israel over ties with Hamas.
Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that the two residents had ties with Hamas while they were studying dentistry in Romania, in the 1990s, and carried out assignments for the armed wing of the movement.
They are also suspected of giving Hamas fighters information to help them carry out attacks against Israeli targets.
The two are from Nazareth and Kafer Manda, in the Galilee. They allegedly met with Hamas activists in Romania, and traveled to Turkey for secret training before heading back to the country.
The Haifa District Court intends to charge the two residents, who were arrested last month, with assisting the enemy in wartime, and making contact with foreign agents. The two were identified as Addul-Salam Zeidan, from Kafer Manda, and Nathmi Hussein, from Nazareth.
Israeli prosecution intends to ask the court to keep the two residents in custody until the end of proceedings against them.
The two suspects were arrested last month, and confessed to the charges, according to the Shin Bet.
The lawyer of Hussein reported that his client totally denies any contact with Hamas, and that the Muslims who contacted him in Romania only discussed religious issues, without discussing and political of security activities.
Also, the father of Zeidan said that his son had rejected two proposals to join Hamas in 1999 and 2002.
The Shin Beit believes that that resistance factions observe Arab residents of Israel as an “attractive recruiting target”, since they have freedom of movement in there.
The Shin Bet claimed that Hussein told his interrogators that he joined Hamas in 1994, and received 5 days training in Turkey. He learnt techniques to follow people and gather information, in addition to studying encryption techniques.
He was supposed to receive military training in Iran, but he did not go there due to his Israeli passport.
He is also believed to have recruited the second resident, Zeidan, in 1990, in addition to giving Hamas names of several people he studied with in Romania, and who he said they might be willing to join Hamas.
Haaretz reported that Zeidan told the Shin bet that Hamas asked him to find an apartment fro rent in this village in the Galilee.
According to the Shin Bet, Zeidan traveled to Turkey in 2002 and met with his Hamas handler who instructed him to gather information about crowded places in Israel, especially in Tel Aviv malls, shopping centers and tall buildings.
Zeidan is suspected of receiving training in Turkey; he is suspected of learning how to prepare explosives and encryption techniques.
Zeidan was instructed to obtain a fertilizer to use in preparing explosives, and to obtain an email address which would be used to receive additional information.
