Israeli police arrest sister of Hamas leader

Israeli police have arrested the sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on suspicion of contacts with militants of the terrorist group and support for terrorist acts. This was reported by the Times of Israel, UNN reports.

Details

The Israeli police reported that during a joint raid with the Shin Bet, they arrested a 57-year-old woman who is "a relative of a high-ranking Hamas member." The police did not name the suspect, only reported that the woman lives in the southern city of Tel Aviv.

At the same time, sources in the defense ministry confirmed that the woman was one of Haniyeh's sisters. The police later identified the suspect as Sabah Awad al-Salam Haniya.

During a search of the suspect's home, police found documents, phones, and other evidence linking her to "serious security breaches." The police also found hundreds of thousands of shekels in cash on the premises.

Among the evidence found is material supporting the mass murder of Israeli citizens and visitors by Hamas on October 7.

For reference

Haniyeh himself lives in exile in Qatar. His three sisters live in Tel Aviv. Two of them have come to the attention of the Israeli authorities in the past because of illegal trips to Gaza in 2013 via Egypt. Both were sentenced to eight-month suspended prison terms for these trips in 2015. Later that year, Israel denied Haniyeh's request to allow his sisters to attend his son's wedding in Gaza.

All three sisters have Israeli citizenship, and according to a 2006 British media report, some of their children served in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Recall

The Israeli army completed an operation near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. The IDF accused Hamas militants of conducting hostilities from the territory of the medical complex.