update deskIsrael at War

Sister of Hamas chief Haniyeh to be charged with terror offenses

"The war has arisen," Sabah Haniyeh wrote to family on the morning of Oct. 7.

Israeli security forces arrest a sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on suspicion of supporting Palestinian terrorists. Credit: Israel Police.
Israeli security forces arrest a sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on suspicion of supporting Palestinian terrorists. Credit: Israel Police.

Sabah Haniyeh, the sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, is expected to be indicted in an Israeli court Sunday on serious security offenses after being arrested earlier this month, Maariv reported.

Sabah Haniyeh, 57, an Israeli citizen who resides in the southern Bedouin town of Tel Sheva, was arrested on April 1 on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent, sympathizing with terrorism and incitement.

During a raid on her home, security forces confiscated documents and other material indicating her association with Palestinian terrorists, leading the Beersheva Magistrate’s Court to extend her detention.

According to WhatsApp messages from the morning of Oct. 7 obtained by Israel’s Channel 13, Sabah Haniyeh wrote to a family group, “The war has arisen” within minutes after Hamas terrorists breached the border. Another relative wrote, “Good morning, what missiles did they send.”

Some 1,200 people were murdered on that day, thousands more wounded and 253 taken hostage, with 133 still in Gaza after 195 days.

Ismail Haniyeh currently resides in Qatar, which sponsors and shelters the Palestinian terror group’s top leaders.

Last week, an Israeli Air Force strike in the Al-Shati Camp on the northern Gaza coast killed six relatives of the terror leader, including three of his sons. Hazem, Ameer and Mohammed Haniyeh were all Hamas members.

In October, Hamas claimed that an airstrike in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood killed 14 relatives of Haniyeh. The terrorist leader’s brother and nephew died in the strike, reports said.

Last month, reports surfaced that Haniyeh’s niece had given birth to a premature infant who was given life-saving medical care at Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center.

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