Suspected Belgian member of PFLP terror group arrested trying to enter Israel

Israel arrested a Belgian national suspected of belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, when he attempted to enter the country through the Allenby Crossing from Jordan, the Shin Bet security service reveals.

Mustafa Haled Awad, 36, was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon and later moved to Belgium and received citizenship there.

According to the Shin Bet, Awad joined the PFLP in 2010 and served the organization from Europe, maintaining contacts in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the West Bank.

“The investigation also found that Mustafa helped transfer terror funds from the ‘Popular Front’ in Syria and Lebanon to operatives in Europe,” the Shin Bet says.

Awad was arrested when he tried to enter Israel from Jordan on July 19, 2018, but details of the case were kept under a court-issued gag order until now.

The Central District Attorney’s Office is expected to file an indictment against Awad for his activities with the terror group in the coming days, the Shin Bet says.

The marxist PFLP group has conducted a number of terror attacks against Israel since it was formed in the 1960s, including the assassination of then-tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001.

“The investigation proves the threat posed by terror groups that bring into their ranks people with foreign passports, which allows them to enter the State of Israel,” the Shin Bet says.

— Judah Ari Gross