Israel indicts Saleh Al-Arouri's sister for alleged support to Hamas

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli police accused on Monday Dalal Suleiman, the sister of the deputy head of the political office of the Hamas movement, Saleh al-Arouri, of supporting the movement.

Al-Arouri was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon last January.

According to the indictment, the Israeli police alleged that "Dalal Suleiman transferred funds to Hamas over the past two years," Israel's public broadcaster reported.

"She was also accused of praising in media interviews the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023," the broadcaster added.

Suleiman was arrested at her home in the town of Aaroura in the central West Bank last January following the assassination of her brother.

She was then "presented before a military court in the northern West Bank on charges of working for an unauthorized movement, incitement, and supporting a hostile organization," according to the broadcaster.

No comment has been issued by Suleiman or her lawyers regarding the Israeli accusations and claims as yet.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas. The ensuing Israeli attacks have killed nearly 29,000 and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

* Writing by Mohammad Sio.