6 east Jerusalem lawyers arrested for passing messages from Gaza to Hamas prisoners in Israel

By DANIEL CLINTON 04/02/2014 16:56

Police and Shin Bet bust ring who allegedly sent messages from Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials to prisoners in exchange for money.

A Palestinian inmate stands behind the bars of a Hamas-run jail in Gaza City, July 23, 2012. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Six lawyers from east Jerusalem were arrested in recent weeks for allegedly passing messages from Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives in the Gaza Strip to security prisoners jailed in Israel, it was revealed Wednesday. A joint police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) investigation led to the arrest of the men, who are suspected of illegally passing the messages from Gaza in exchange for several hundreds of shekels per prison visit over the past three years. Related:

Shin Bet thwarts terror kidnapping plot Shin Bet, police arrest 16 Hamas activists in Jerusalem

The undercover investigation to apprehend the suspects, which took place over a number of months, began with a tip about a law office opened in Issawiya managed by two brothers from the east Jerusalem neighborhood.

The law office paid attorneys a salary for visiting Hamas prisoners in jail. During the visits they would show the prisoners letters containing messages from Hamas officials, according to police. The lawyers would write down the responses and pass them back to the Hamas officials through the law office, taking advantage of attorney-client privilege laws. Police allege that the messages discussed subjects such as financing of the terror organization, prisoner hunger strikes, determining the identity of prisoners released in the deal to free Gilad Schalit and expressions of support by prison leaders for Khaled Mashaal to head Hamas. After the arrest of the suspects, police raided and searched nine law offices in which they confiscated computers, hundreds of letters and receipts for close to a million shekels transferred to the law office from Hamas during the months of January and February 2014. The two brothers who ran the law office denied the accusations against them. Four other attorneys admitted to police that they worked for the law office and passed messages to prisoners, police said. The suspects will be indicted in the coming days on charges including: activity in a terrorist organization, conspiracy to commit a crime and contact with a foreign agent. Police will request that the court remand the suspects to custody for the duration of legal proceedings against them.