4 men charged over smuggling of goods to Gaza for millions; one of them stayed in Gaza unauthorized for days

State prosecutors file two indictments against four men on smuggling charges, after they allegedly trafficked goods including cigarettes and electronic devices into the Gaza Strip in return for millions of shekels in total.

The four defendants smuggled goods into the enclave on two occasions, using aid trucks that passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing, prosecutors write.

The first indictment is filed against two residents of Rahat, and concerns the smuggling of around a hundred crates of cigarettes, personal care products, hookah coals and bicycles, which they loaded onto an aid truck departing from Hebron in November 2025. They received NIS 450,000 ($146,000), per the indictment.

The second is filed against two men from Bir al-Maksur, a northern Arab town, who smuggled cigarettes and various electronic devices, including phones and car batteries, into Gaza in January 2026, in exchange for NIS 4.5 million ($1.5 million).

In the second case, the deputy commander of an IDF battalion in the area helped spirit Adnan Abu Latif, a truck driver and defendant in the first indictment, into the Strip alongside the smuggled goods. He remained in the area — Hamas-controlled territory — for three days, prosecutors say.

The four are indicted in the Haifa District Court on charges including assisting the enemy during wartime, using property for terrorist purposes, aggravated fraud and obstructing an investigation.