Israeli dentist indicted for suspected money transfers to Hamas

A dentist from the northern Arab Israeli town of Kafr Kanna was indicted Tuesday at the Nazareth District Court on suspicion he had aided Palestinian terrorist group Hamas by transferring large sums of money to members of the organization in the West Bank.

Malik Jamil Mubarak Khatib, 31, was apprehended last month in a joint operation by the Shin Bet security service and police while on his way to the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah, allegedly for the purpose of transferring funds to Hamas officials, the Shin Bet said in a statement released Tuesday.

The security agency said it had specifically warned Khatib not to engage in such activity several weeks prior to his arrest.

A sum of NIS 170,000 (about $43,700) in cash was found in Khatib’s possessions at the time of the arrest, the Shin Bit stated, adding that the dentist had been taken to a security facility for questioning.

During his interrogation, Khatib admitted he had transferred funds to Hamas activists and further confessed that he had assisted Palestinians from Gaza to enter Israeli territory illegally, according to the Shin Bet. Khatib said he had received payments in exchange for driving Palestinians without permits across the Strip’s border on a nearly daily basis, the security service said.

Following Khatib’s indictment Tuesday, the Nazareth District Court extended the dentist’s remand until Sunday. The court said that during Sunday’s session it would rule on whether or not Khatib will remain in custody until the end of proceedings, in accordance with police requests.