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Israel to indict Turkish national on terror charges after month of detention

PHOTO: Haaretz

Israeli prosecutors on Sunday were prepared to charge a Turkish national with aiding the Palestinian group Hamas, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported, citing the Haaretz daily.

Ebru Özkan, 27, was arrested by Israeli security at Ben Gurion Airport on June 11, when she was attempting to board a return flight to Turkey, on suspicion of posing a threat to national security and ties to terrorist groups.

Haaretz said Israeli prosecutors would file an indictment against the woman on Sunday.

Her lawyer, Omar Khamaysa, said she was charged with trying to bring money and a cellphone charger to Hamas members but added that she hadn’t been aware of their identity.

Israel labels Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, as a terrorist organization.

Özkan is not the first Turkish citizen to have been detained in recent times by Israeli authorities.

In January Osman Hazır, a 46-year-old Turkish national, was arrested for snapping a selfie at East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque while holding a Turkish flag.

And last December, Israel arrested two other Turks — Abdullah Kızılırmak and Mehmet Gargılı — after the pair had quarreled with Israeli police who had tried to prevent them from entering the flashpoint holy site.

In the same month, Adem Koç, another Turkish national, was arrested inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for allegedly “disturbing the peace and taking part in an illegal demonstration.”

Kızılırmak, Gargılı and Koç were all subsequently released on bail.

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