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Israeli Intelligence Arrests Hamas Cell in Jerusalem

Religious Jews in a Jerusalem suburb during Purim celebrations (EPA)
Religious Jews in a Jerusalem suburb during Purim celebrations (EPA)
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Israeli Intelligence Arrests Hamas Cell in Jerusalem

Religious Jews in a Jerusalem suburb during Purim celebrations (EPA)
Religious Jews in a Jerusalem suburb during Purim celebrations (EPA)

The Israeli intelligence (Shin Bet) arrested a Palestinian cell in Jerusalem that transferred $250,000 from Turkey to finance alleged terrorist activities and pay families of martyrs and prisoners.

The Israeli Public Prosecution has submitted an indictment to a court in Jerusalem against four citizens from Sur Baher and Beit Hanina, on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

They were accused of running a terrorist group, encouraging terrorist activities, financing terrorism, tax offenses, and money laundering.

The Shin Bet claimed the detainees were assigned to carry out military operations that led to clashes during the holy month of Ramadan.

The Shin Bet and the Israeli police arrested the four suspects last month, but a media blackout was imposed, which was removed Friday during the trial.

The indictment named the detainees as freed prisoner Khaled Sabah, a senior Hamas official in Jerusalem, his two sons Munib and Musab and Firas Tawtah, claiming some were trained outside the country.

Tawtah is accused of using the Zakat Committee that he leads for funneling money to Hamas and collecting and distributing $8.6 million between 2007 and 2021.

The police claimed that Sabah had recently met with Khaled Atoun and Musa Ekry, Hamas top officials, who currently live and work in Turkey, and that they appointed Sabah in charge of "Hamas" funds in Jerusalem.

A sum of $250,000 was recently handed over to him for financing Hamas' activities during Ramadan, but he was unable to bring such a large sum across the border, and he started entering the money in small amounts.

The operators urged Sabah to find a way to enter the money, so he deposited it in a Turkish bank account and spent the amount from his Palestinian bank account.

Israeli authorities confiscated $246,000 in cash that was found in his home.

The indictment added that Sabah's two sons aided him as members of Hamas, and the money was transferred to Hamas activists and their families and persons convicted of offenses of terrorism and breach of public order.

The Shin Bet claimed Sabah met in Turkey with Hamas leaders, including Zakaria Najib, who was convicted of kidnapping the soldier Nahshon Waxman in 1994.

The indictment added that during his last month's visit to Turkey, Sabah's ​​responsibilities were expanded, and he was appointed as the head of Hamas in Jerusalem to advance its military activity in the city.

Sabah was asked to form and move military and organizational infrastructure in Jerusalem and prepare for Ramadan month.

It claimed that Mosab helped his father and formed a link with Hamas's leadership in Turkey, and Munib helped relay messages between the officials in Turkey and collected money on his father's behalf.

In 2012-2022, Tawtah collected nearly $150,000 for the charity to be transferred to the families and orphans affiliated with Hamas.

The charity had a total income of $8.6 million between 2007 and 2020, the indictment read, which were transferred to the martyrs' families.

The association also transferred a large part of the money to orphans not affiliated with Hamas.

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Arab World

Asharq Al-Awsat Publishes Hamas Letter to Mediators as Cairo Meeting Looms

A Palestinian inspects the site of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP)
A Palestinian inspects the site of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP)
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Asharq Al-Awsat Publishes Hamas Letter to Mediators as Cairo Meeting Looms

A Palestinian inspects the site of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP)
A Palestinian inspects the site of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP)

Asharq Al-Awsat has obtained a document recently sent by Hamas to mediators regarding the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, where escalating Israeli violations have killed more than 930 Palestinians since the deal took effect on October 10.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Thursday evening, citing a regional diplomat who recently met Hamas leaders, that the Palestinian group would not accept disarmament and believed the United States would prevent Israel from carrying out any major military action in Gaza.

The report said Hamas had grown stronger, gained confidence, and was tightening its control over the enclave, especially after the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

A senior Hamas source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the reports were completely baseless.

The source said the movement had recently sent mediators a document on Israeli violations and its position on the political deadlock, in light of the negative stance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government toward recent proposals by the mediators, as well as the roadmap put forward by the Board of Peace through its High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov.

They also said Hamas had not recently held meetings with diplomatic officials in the region, apart from meetings held as part of negotiation rounds, with the participation of Mladenov and figures representing the US administration and the Board of Peace.

The source said the negotiation round, expected to take place before Eid al-Adha, had been postponed until after the holiday that started on Wednesday.

They said no specific date had been set for the round, but a delegation from the movement’s leadership was preparing to visit Cairo at Egypt’s invitation in the coming days, once the necessary arrangements were completed.

The source said messages of protest had been sent in the past period over Israel's continued escalation in killings and the targeting of people, adding that there had been no new positions.

Hamas sent the document to mediators in Egypt and sent copies to Qatar and Türkiye. Through those countries, it was relayed to other parties, including the Board of Peace and the US administration.

The Hamas document obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat.

The message

At the beginning of the document, dated May 20, Hamas referred to efforts made by mediators to bridge differences during the latest negotiation rounds in Cairo and Istanbul, which it said had succeeded in narrowing gaps.

The document said Israel’s measures, the expansion of its aggression, assassinations, and the targeting of Palestinians, the negotiating delegation, their families, and those connected to the negotiations had created a negative environment and strongly affected the course of talks, undermining mediators’ efforts to keep negotiations on their normal track.

The document criticized Mladenov’s recent briefing to the UN Security Council, saying it contained inaccurate points and held Hamas responsible for obstructing the negotiation process.

It said everyone knew the movement was fully committed to all provisions of the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement and that Israel was the party obstructing the deal and deliberately sabotaging mediators’ efforts.

The document affirmed Hamas and the Palestinian factions' commitment to the negotiation track and its importance. It said they were working seriously to develop ideas to help overcome the deadlock and saw the need to intensify cooperation with mediators to reach reasonable approaches.

Hamas urged mediators to pressure Israel to stop its daily violations of the agreement, which were obstructing the completion of the required tasks.

The document said that while consultations were underway to reach a suitable formula to present to mediators, Israel assassinated Ezzedine al-Haddad, the commander of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing. It said the killing disrupted communication and consultation.

Hamas hoped that once consultations were completed, it would communicate with mediators in the coming days to find a suitable formula to resume the negotiation process.

More than a month ago, Asharq Al-Awsat revealed the full details of the proposal, which was classified as a roadmap and aimed to complete what remained of the first phase while negotiating the provisions of the second phase.

Conditions set by Hamas and Israel obstructed the implementation of the roadmap. The two sides exchanged responses through mediators amid attempts to bridge their differences, and progress was later made.

But Netanyahu’s government’s demand to obtain a signed document on disarming Gaza before moving ahead with any steps stalled progress on the agreement again, especially as Israel also refrained from allowing the Gaza administration committee to enter the enclave and assume its duties.

Arab World

Eleven Children Killed, Injured Every 24 Hours in Lebanon, UN Says

Rubble lies around damaged building at the site of an Israeli strike in Tyre, Lebanon, May 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Rubble lies around damaged building at the site of an Israeli strike in Tyre, Lebanon, May 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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Eleven Children Killed, Injured Every 24 Hours in Lebanon, UN Says

Rubble lies around damaged building at the site of an Israeli strike in Tyre, Lebanon, May 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Rubble lies around damaged building at the site of an Israeli strike in Tyre, Lebanon, May 28, 2026. (Reuters)

Eleven children have been killed or injured on average every 24 hours in Lebanon over the last week, the UN's children's agency said on Friday, as Israel has expanded strikes across the country despite a ceasefire.

Heavy Israeli strikes hit towns and villages in southern Lebanon overnight on Wednesday and into ‌Thursday, after Israel declared ‌a new swathe of the ‌area ⁠a combat zone. ⁠It also struck a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday.

A total of 77 children have been killed or injured in the last seven days, UNICEF said, citing figures provided by Lebanon's Ministry of Public ⁠Health. Since the ceasefire began on April ‌16, 55 children ‌have been killed and 212 injured, according to the ‌agency.

UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires called for all ‌parties to fully respect the ceasefire.

"Under international humanitarian law, children and civilian infrastructure must be protected," he said.

The ceasefire announced by Washington was meant to ‌halt the fighting that has raged between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah since ⁠March 2.

The ⁠UN's World Health Organization also said on Friday that the threat from the expansion of military activities raised grave health concerns for the Lebanese population.

Since the ceasefire took effect, a total of 27 attacks on healthcare facilities in Lebanon have been reported, resulting in 25 deaths and 42 injuries, according to the WHO. A total of 16 hospitals and 13 primary healthcare centers have been damaged in attacks, it added.

Arab World

Israel Plan to Seize More of Gaza Means ‘More Children Will Suffer’, Says UN

Palestinian women inspect the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP)
Palestinian women inspect the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP)
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Israel Plan to Seize More of Gaza Means ‘More Children Will Suffer’, Says UN

Palestinian women inspect the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP)
Palestinian women inspect the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP)

The UN warned on Friday that an Israeli plan to take control of 70 percent of Gaza is sure to increase suffering among children already hit by the impacts of severe overcrowding.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had ordered the military to take control of more territory in the Gaza Strip, in defiance of the terms of a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October.

He said the military had controlled 50 percent of the territory under the terms of the ceasefire, then advanced to take over 60 percent.

"My directive is to move to... 70 percent," he said.

But the United Nations children's agency warned that such a move would deepen the health crisis among children in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, already suffering from a lack of food, water and access to hygiene.

Even before Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, it was "already one of the most densely populated places in the world", UNICEF spokesman Salim Oweis told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Gaza.

Today, "people have been crammed into around 40 percent of the space left to them, sheltering among broken buildings, rubble and mounting solid waste", he said, adding "there is no accessible space left to clear" the waste.

"The effects of this are now widely apparent: children with respiratory infections, acute watery diarrhea, and more than half of all households reporting skin diseases."

- Rats biting children -

"Fleas, lice and scabies are commonplace," Oweis said, also pointing to numerous cases of rats biting young children and even babies after getting into tents and other shelters for Gaza's hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Oweis told the story of a woman named Hind, who "hasn't slept since her four-year-old daughter, Masa, was bitten by a rat during the night".

"Like many families, they sheltered wherever they could, in their case, the second floor of a building block where sewage water leaks through the ceilings, and rodents crawl through the cracks in the building and climb the exposed pipes," he said.

"Increasing numbers of children are requiring hospitalization, all without a single fully functioning hospital across Gaza."

Oweis described the situation as "dire", noting the overcrowding was "creating more spread of diseases, straining the systems and of course cutting... services".

If Israel takes control of even more land, that "means that we will lose access to some of the service points, but also (to) some hard to reach places (where) children and families are living," he said.

"This will just mean that more children will suffer.

"Honestly, we can't afford that at the moment."

Despite an October 10 ceasefire, Gaza remains gripped by daily violence.

Israel has killed more than 900 people in the territory since the ceasefire, according to Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.