Israelis charge Australian with Spying for Hamas
An Australian citizen who lived in New South Wales has been charged in Israel with spying for Hamas.
Israeli prosecutors allege Iaad Rashid Abu Arja, 46, was asked to provide intelligence and surveillance information on key technology companies in Israel, which authorities believe are developing technology to intercept missiles fired from Gaza.
The indictment alleges he contacted Hamas while living in Australia in 2007 and went to Syria in 2008 for military training. Last year he allegedly went to Saudi Arabia where he met a senior Hamas official who asked him to test whether he could easily enter Israel. Abu Arga was arrested last month when he tried to enter the country.
DFAT confirmed an Australian citizen was suspected of links to a terror organisation. Hamas’s military wing is proscribed in Australia.
