Security at Ben Gurion Airport
Security at Ben Gurion AirportIsrael news photo: Yoni Kempinski

An Australian national stopped by security at Ben Gurion International Airport has been indicted in the Petach Tikva District Court as a spy for the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization.

The alleged spy, Iyad Rashid Abu Arja, holds Jordanian and Saudi Arabian passports. He was arrested at the airport last month, according to a report broadcast Tuesday night on Channel 2 television news.

According to the indictment displayed during the report, Arja is a computer expert trained in Syria. He was asked by the Iran-backed terrorist organization to acquire technology for encryption, photography and missile guidance.

Arja was allegedly testing his ability to enter and exit the country when he arrived at Ben Gurion airport.

There are at least 308,000 Australian nationals with Arab ancestry, most originating from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Algeria and the Palestinian Authority. The majority are Muslim;  all are officially classified as North African and Middle Eastern by government agencies, including the Australian Census Bureau.