The Shin Bet (ISA) and Israel Police announced the arrest of a resident of the Bedouin town of Hura in southern Israel on suspicion of meeting with senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Turkey and facilitating the transfer of tens of thousands of shekels to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
At the end of the investigation, prosecutor Yariv Tsari from the Southern District Attorney's Office submitted an indictment to the Be'er Sheva District Court against the suspect, Osama Alokbi.
Saleh al-Arouri, who was considered the second-highest-ranked official in the Hamas terrorist organization under Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an Israeli drone strike in Beirut last month.
Alokbi is accused of maintaining contact with Hamas leaders over a period of years and meeting with the terrorist organization's representatives multiple times in Turkey. During the latest meeting in Turkey in June 2023, he participated in what was called a "small forum" of multiple Hamas leaders, including al-Arouri.
Alokbi was also a member of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, which was outlawed due to its extremism.