The Haifa District Prosecutor's Office has filed a serious indictment with the Haifa District Court against five Bedouin suspects accused of smuggling goods worth millions of shekels into the Gaza Strip during the war.
According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly worked with several accomplices, including Ahmed Hujirat, the deputy commander of a Bedouin reconnaissance battalion in the Israel Defense Forces. Prosecutors say the group exploited his military position to facilitate the transfer of goods into Gaza.
Investigators say the suspects operated as part of an organized network in which each member carried out a specific role in the smuggling chain - from supplying merchandise and coordinating with contacts inside Gaza to transporting trucks to the Kerem Shalom Crossing and arranging their entry into the enclave.
In one case detailed in the indictment, a truck was loaded with goods including about 100 cartons of cigarettes, personal care products, hookah charcoal and bicycles worth millions of shekels. The truck was allegedly driven to an area near the Kerem Shalom crossing and from there smuggled into Gaza.
Another incident described in the indictment involved plans to smuggle an additional truck carrying mobile phones, laptops, cigarettes, batteries, electric bicycles and other electronic equipment worth millions of shekels.
At that stage, prosecutors say Hujirat - who is also the brother-in-law of defendant Amir Gadir - joined the operation. At the time, he was serving as acting sector commander near the Kerem Shalom crossing after the battalion commander was wounded. According to the indictment, he used his authority to allow the truck to enter Gaza under the guise of an operational military activity.
Prosecutors allege that the officer instructed security personnel at the crossing not to stop or document the truck. The vehicle was reportedly driven by Adnan Abu Latif, who followed the officer’s military vehicle to the truck parking area on the Gaza side of the crossing.
When IDF forces began to suspect the truck, the indictment states that the officer ordered them to leave the area, claiming the activity was part of a special operations mission.
Later, after the Gazan driver who was supposed to transport the truck deeper into the enclave refused to arrive, the officer allegedly allowed Abu Latif to re-enter Gaza with the vehicle. According to prosecutors, he drove the truck to the area of Deir al-Balah.
The prosecution says Abu Latif remained in Gaza for about three days before being extracted by a soldier. Those involved in the second smuggling operation allegedly received about 4.5 million shekels.
In its request to keep the suspects in custody until the end of legal proceedings, prosecutors stressed the severity of the case. They noted that the defendant’s presence in Gaza for three days posed a serious security risk, arguing that if he had been kidnapped by terrorist organizations, Israel might have been forced to launch a military rescue operation or negotiate a prisoner exchange.
Prosecutors further argue that the suspects acted out of financial motives while being aware that the goods could reach Hamas and potentially strengthen the group and finance its activities during wartime.
The defendants face charges including aiding the enemy during wartime, conducting property transactions for terror purposes, obtaining benefits by fraud under aggravated circumstances and bribery.