The Israel Police and Shin Bet security service have arrested a Gaza resident suspected as the “computer administrator” of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, police spokeswoman Luba Samri says.
A statement from Samri describes the suspect as an “electronics engineer” in his 20s from the Gaza Strip, and says he has been indicted today on charges of “espionage, conspiracy to convey information to an enemy, hacking computer material and more.”
The man, who also held the position of chairman of the “Palestinian talents society,” was arrested on February 23 while en route to a meeting with young Palestinian candidates on a television singing contest, the statement says.
Police didn’t say when or how he was arrested.
He was recruited by Islamic Jihad in 2001 while working as a radio broadcaster. At the same time, police allege, “he carried out tasks that he received from his handlers, including coding a computer program that enabled the viewing of road cameras, hacking into the computers of the Hamas interior ministry in Gaza, and more.”
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
