A 31-year-old resident of northern Israel was indicted Monday for maintaining contact with an Iranian intelligence operative and carrying out a series of paid missions over several months, culminating in the surveillance of former defense minister Yoav Gallant’s home in Amikam.
The indictment, filed at the Haifa District Court by the Haifa District Attorney’s Office, charges Fares Abu al-Hijja with contact with a foreign agent. Prosecutors have requested his detention until the end of proceedings, citing security-related dangerousness.
According to the indictment, Abu al-Hijja was contacted on October 8, 2025, via Telegram by a man identifying himself as “Martin,” later determined to be an Iranian intelligence operative. The contact followed his membership in a Telegram group advertising informal job opportunities.
Between October 2025 and January 21, 2026, Abu al-Hijja allegedly carried out six assignments in exchange for cryptocurrency payments transferred via Binance.
The initial tasks involved purchasing and concealing electronic equipment in Haifa and Kiryat Haim, including mobile phones and SIM cards, documenting the hiding locations, and installing messaging applications on the devices. For those missions, he allegedly received $200, $1,000, and another $1,000.
In December, he was instructed to leave an envelope in Zichron Ya’acov containing a cryptocurrency access code and NIS 50, alongside a printed holiday greeting. For that task, he received $400.
Later that month, he was directed to photograph a cafe in Tel Aviv, for which he allegedly received $1,000.
Iranian spies target Israelis amid internal tensions
On January 18, 2026, he was instructed to travel to Amikam and document four specific streets near Gallant’s residence. On January 21, at approximately 1:52 p.m., he arrived in the community and began filming before being arrested shortly after transmitting the footage.
Prosecutors state that during Shin Bet and police interrogations, Abu al-Hijja admitted he suspected his handler was affiliated with Iranian intelligence but continued carrying out the assignments for payment.
Authorities said phone extraction data, store receipts, surveillance footage from electronics retailers, and communication records corroborate the timeline outlined in the indictment.
Abu al-Hijja has been in custody since January 21. Although he has no prior criminal record, prosecutors argue that the offense constitutes a security crime that carries a presumption of dangerousness and that no alternative detention arrangement can mitigate the risk.
The case comes amid repeated warnings from Israeli security officials that Iranian operatives have intensified efforts to recruit Israeli civilians through social media platforms, often offering cryptocurrency payments for intelligence-gathering tasks that can escalate in severity.
Abu al-Hijja remains in custody pending further court proceedings.