A 40-year-old mother of seven from Haifa was indicted on Thursday, after an investigation raised allegations that she had travelled to Gaza, and agreed to spy on behalf of the al-Aqsa Martyrs brigade in exchange for a undeclared sum of money.

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The indictment stated that Nassrin Hassan, who is married to a Gazan, apparently met with members of the terrorist organization at a military training facility in Gaza last March. The indictment went on to allege that Hassan was trained to build explosive devices, and agreed to carry out an attack upon completing an additional training session.

She later took photos of strategic facilities in the Haifa area in preparation for the attack, according to the indictment.

Nassrin Hassan in court (Photo: Herzl Yosef)

Hassan was brought before a Be'er Sheva district court judge, who ordered that she be remanded to custody pending further proceedings. An additional court session was scheduled for November 10. The indictment sought to charge Hassan with four counts of aiding the enemy during wartime, providing the enemy with information in order to harm state security, conspiracy to aid the enemy during wartime, espionage, contact with a foreign agent, membership and activity in an unlawful organization, and more.

According to the indictment, which was submitted by the Southern District prosecutor Moran Gaz, Hassan had sporadically lived in both Israel and Gaza in the 15 years since her marriage to a Gazan. Hassan had lived in Gaza during the last year, and said she entered Israel to visit family in Haifa.

According to the charges against Hassan, she first made contact with members of Katibat al-Mujahideen (a faction of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade) two years ago, later joining the group in order to conduct operations inside of Israel. Obstensibly, during the last two years she met with members of the group who provided her with spying objectives. Among other tasks, Hassan supposedly took photos of strategic compounds in Israel, specifically governmental institutions.

Masked men in Gaza (Photo: Archive, Reuters)

According to the indictment, Hassan entered Israel through the Erez crossing, and immediately went to work observing and writing down details regarding the security of the Haifa Port, Haifa trains stations, the interior ministry building in the city, as well as several other institutions. Hassan allegedly recorded the number of security guards on duty at each institution in writing, while secretly taking photos of security camera placements during fake phone conversations.

Upon returning to Gaza, Hassan allegedly handed over her cell phone's memory card, which included the photos and information she had gathered.

She later attended a bomb-making course at a military training facility in the strip, claimed the indictment, where she learned to build the type of bomb she would use in her attack. She was arrested at the Erez crossing on October 18 as part of a joint operation between the Shin Bet and Negev police division.