The Khan Yunis merchant, Osama Mohamed Bashiti, was arrested several weeks ago on his return from the UAE to Gaza, but his arrest was kept secret until today. He transferred money from his office in the UAE, where his brother-in-law lives. He then transferred the money to Ibrahim Sanouar, the Hamas terrorist commander in Khan Yunis.
Sanouar was directly involved in directing hundreds of bomb, mortar, shooting attacks and infiltrations, including the attack three years ago on Atzmona in which five Israeli students were murdered. Sanouar and Hamas terrorist leader Muhammad Def also supervised the March 1996 suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon, in which 44 Israeli civilians were murdered and approximately 100 were wounded, a government spokesman said.
He pointed out that Hamas continues terrorist activity despite its becoming a political party and that the money has been used to fund training for terrorist and purchasing weapons.
Bashiti admitted he began funneling the money five months ago, at the beginning of the "calm" after the Sharm el-Sheikh agreements in which the Palestinian Authority (PA) promised to stop incitement and dismantle terrorists' infrastructure.
The funds were transferred in several transactions to circumvent restrictions on bringing in large amounts of cash. The biggest single transfer was about $200,000.
Sanouar was directly involved in directing hundreds of bomb, mortar, shooting attacks and infiltrations, including the attack three years ago on Atzmona in which five Israeli students were murdered. Sanouar and Hamas terrorist leader Muhammad Def also supervised the March 1996 suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon, in which 44 Israeli civilians were murdered and approximately 100 were wounded, a government spokesman said.
He pointed out that Hamas continues terrorist activity despite its becoming a political party and that the money has been used to fund training for terrorist and purchasing weapons.
Bashiti admitted he began funneling the money five months ago, at the beginning of the "calm" after the Sharm el-Sheikh agreements in which the Palestinian Authority (PA) promised to stop incitement and dismantle terrorists' infrastructure.
The funds were transferred in several transactions to circumvent restrictions on bringing in large amounts of cash. The biggest single transfer was about $200,000.