An officer with the rank of major in the Israel Defense Forces was indicted for smuggling contraband into Gaza as well as bringing an Israeli civilian into the Strip, the military announced on Thursday.

The officer was arrested by the Shin Bet security agency several months ago, and on Wednesday, military prosecutors charged him with several offenses, including aiding the enemy, taking bribes, and smuggling goods under aggravated circumstances.

According to the indictment, on January 10, the officer led a truck into the Gaza Strip containing 600 cellphones, 125,000 cigarettes, two tons of tobacco, 100 car batteries, 10 electric bicycles, 10 laptop computers, and several network routers — all of which Israel currently bans from entering Gaza — with a total value of over seven million shekels ($2.3 million).

The officer had arranged the smuggling with several Israeli civilians, against whom indictments were filed at the Haifa Magistrate’s Court.

The truck had been driven by an Israeli civilian, while the officer traveled ahead of him in a military vehicle.

The officer served as a deputy commander of a unit that at the time was responsible for the Kerem Shalom area, though he was effectively the officer in charge of the region, as the unit commander had been wounded during fighting in Gaza.

The indictment said the officer “bypassed inspection and supervision mechanisms, and exploited his authority and military position, while presenting a false representation to soldiers and officers that this was a legitimate operational activity.”

After crossing the border, the civilian left the truck in a parking lot just inside the Gaza Strip and returned to Israel with the officer. The vehicle with the smuggled goods then aroused the suspicion of the soldiers monitoring the truck parking lot, and a force was dispatched to search it. The troops also updated the officer, as he was the commander of the sector, and he instructed them to step away from the truck and leave him to handle it, according to the indictment.

A Gazan driver who was supposed to collect the truck from the parking lot and take it to Deir al-Balah in the Strip’s center refused to do so, and instead, the officer brought the civilian again into Gaza “to complete the transfer of the goods.”

“The civilian drove the truck further into the Gaza Strip and remained there for several days, until he was extracted with the assistance of the parties involved in the smuggling,” according to the indictment.

The indictment noted that the civilian was extracted out of Gaza “with the assistance of a soldier whose details are unknown to the prosecution.”

Prosecutors said that the officer “carried out these acts knowing that the goods were being brought into the Gaza Strip without authorization and without supervision, and that they could reach terror organizations, including Hamas, and assist their activities.”

The indictment also stated that the officer “knew, or turned a blind eye to the possibility, that bringing an Israeli civilian into the Gaza Strip could also assist the enemy,” and that the civilian could have been abducted while he was in the Hamas-run territory.

The investigation was carried out jointly by the Shin Bet, Israel Police, Military Police and Israel Tax Authority.

“The IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Israel Police view the phenomenon of smuggling into the Gaza Strip gravely, as it poses a risk to national security in general, and especially in cases where IDF personnel in regular or reserve service are involved,” a joint statement said.

This month, in a separate case, a lieutenant in the IDF was indicted for smuggling contraband into the Gaza Strip in exchange for millions of shekels.

And in February, state prosecutors filed charges against 15 suspects, among them IDF reservists, accused of taking part in a major smuggling ring that trafficked goods into the Gaza Strip.

That alleged smuggling ring is linked to Bezalel Zini, the brother of Shin Bet chief David Zini. Bezalel Zini is thought to have helped the network’s members smuggle cigarettes, taking advantage of his IDF reserve service in Gaza.

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IDF Israel Defense Forces

Haifa Magistrate's Court

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