Aya Khatib, a resident of the Israeli town of Arara and an activist in the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, was recently charged with spying for Hamas and transferring hundreds of thousands of shekels to the group to finance terrorist activities, including the digging of tunnels along Gaza’s border with Israel.

According to Shin Bet, Khatib used her volunteer work on behalf of Palestinians receiving treatment in Israeli hospitals and her humanitarian aid efforts on behalf of Gaza residents to collect intelligence about Israel Defense Forces troop movements. She also transferred equipment to Hamas' military wing and collected considerable amounts of money for the organization. Furthermore, Khatib is alleged to have taken advantage of her position to coerce ailing Palestinians receiving treatment in Israel and in hospitals in the West Bank to transfer materials to Hamas in Gaza. She reportedly provided detailed confessions during her interrogation, and her cell phone contained detailed notes that revealed a close relationship to Hamas activists Mohammed Filfel and Mahmoud Halawa. The March 18 letter of indictment against Khatib cites relaying information to the enemy with the intent of harming state security, contact with a foreign agent and various other crimes listed in the Fight against Terrorism Law.

This is not the first attempt by Hamas to recruit Israeli Arabs. Col. (res.) Michael Milstein, head of the Forum for Palestinian Studies at the Moshe Dayan Center, told Al-Monitor that since Operation Protective Edge (2014), Hamas has successfully recruited 20 to 30 young Israeli Arabs. “Khatib was a member of a cell with many other members,” said Milstein. “What makes this so unusual and so daunting are its scope and the length of time during which she operated.”

Since Khatib's arrested on Feb. 17, Israel's Arab community has been conflicted over whether to support Khatib, with divisions being aired in public. On March 6, senior members of the Islamic Movement demonstrated in support of Khatib in Acre. Various Arab mayors as well as Joint List Knesset members Yousef Jabareen (Hadash) and Iman Khatib (Ra’am) also participated. In addition, Iman Khatib attended a court proceeding to show her support for the accused. In a statement outside the courthouse, she referred to Aya Khatib as “a wife and mother of small children,” adding, “All she did was to be there with needy and poor people, in order to give them a little respect. So, if they call that terrorism, I wish them all the best.”