Israel has charged a military officer for smuggling goods and an Israeli citizen into Gaza. His arrest came as part of continuing investigations into a suspected widespread operation that brought items into the besieged strip throughout the course of the Gaza war, fuelling a boom in the black market.
Israel’s military and internal security service, the Shin Bet, said the officer, who held the rank of major, was arrested months ago and charged on Wednesday. His alleged offences include smuggling goods under aggravated circumstances, aiding the enemy and taking bribes.
The arrest, announced by the military on Thursday, is the latest legal action to be taken against Israeli soldiers and civilians accused of being part of Gaza smuggling rings. In February, the brother of the head of the Shin Bet was charged with “aiding the enemy in wartime” over his alleged role in smuggling cigarettes into the Palestinian territory.
The military’s statement said that, according the indictment, the accused was involved with the entry of “a lorry to the Gaza Strip containing smuggled goods, including mobile phones, cigarettes, car batteries, electric bicycles, laptops, network routers … with a total value of millions of shekels”.
The military added: “The lorry was driven by an Israeli citizen, with the defendant driving ahead of him in a military vehicle. The defendant bypassed the inspection and supervision mechanisms, and abused his powers and military position, while presenting a false representation to soldiers and officers that this was a legitimate operational activity.”
The inquiry also involved police and the Israel Tax Authority.
The alleged involvement of military personnel in smuggling goods into Gaza has added to broader concerns about discipline in the ranks, with soldiers also accused of serious wrongdoing during operations in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.
In January, The National was the first news outlet to reveal the multimillion-dollar value of a smuggling operation in Gaza, with each lorryload reportedly generating millions on the black market, at a time when the coastal strip was facing a humanitarian crisis because of Israeli controls over the entry of aid.
