Arab Israeli woman indicted for Facebook posts apparently praising Hamas after Oct. 7

State prosecutors indict a young Arab Israeli woman on charges of incitement and support for a terrorist organization, after she wrote several posts on Facebook appearing to laud Hamas.

The defendant, 22-year-old Maryam Halaika from Kafr Qasim, posted four times on Facebook in support of Hamas in the days following its October 7, 2023, attacks, prosecutors say.

Halaika is accused of posting incitement 10 days after the invasion alongside a green heart emoji, apparently in reference to the Hamas flag and emblem.

“O God, add to the Jews’ humiliation and sorrow. O God, disperse them and dissolve their unity, and place fear within their hearts. O God, help the Muslims and be with them… and give us a near opening for victory,” she wrote, according to prosecutors.

An hour later she posted again, saying that “it will be written in history that a small piece of land called the Gaza Strip stood against every occupying force and fought alone the cancer of the world called ‘Israel.’ By the hands of its men it did miracles, and paid a heavy price in its children’s blood for the sake of freedom.”

The posts she made received likes and supportive comments, and she declined to delete most of them until she was indicted.

She was charged in the Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court with incitement to terrorism and expressing support for a terrorist organization, prosecutors say.