The Mahajat El Quds organization is closely linked to the Islamic Jihad.
According to the indictment Ayoub was retained by Abu Hamza, a Mahajat El Quds member, to pass on information to the group’s members serving sentences in Israeli prisons.
According to the indictment Suhir gained access to the prisoners on two occasions in February and April under the guise of counsel, representing herself as the inmates' lawyer. During her visits, Suhir is alleged to have taken down messages from the prisoners pertaining to Mahajat El Quds business, and then having distributed them among the other prisoners. She also allegedly transferred messages to Abu Hamza in Gaza.
Suhir is being charged under a section of the Defense (Emergency) Regulations that prohibits giving aid to an illegal association. As a result, prosecutors requested Suhir be remanded for the duration of the proceedings against her, arguing she poses a danger to public and national security.
The judge ordered house arrest for Suhir. Her license to practice law has been suspended.
In a related announcement, the Israel Police Central District said it arrested three other lawyers in northern Israel for passing information to terror organizations. The lawyers, police said, received thousands of shekels in fees for the illicit services.
Avi Cohen of the Jerusalem District Police said the four lawyers were arrested after an undercover investigation spanning several months. The other three lawyers are expected to be indicted shortly.
"We believe they will be indicted within a week," said Cohen. "We also know that this is not a singular case and that Islamic Jihad has other ways of contacting their members in Israeli prisons. Nevertheless, the arrests are likely to increase deterrence to that effect."
Lt.-Col. (ret.) Meir Indor of Almagor, the Terror Victims Association, said of Suhir's arrest, “The frequent visits by lawyers to convicted terrorists has become a national plague.
“These visits have nearly nothing to do with the requirement of legal representation,” Indor observed, “...it has become clear that they are an effective method designed by the terror organizations to enable the relay of messages between organization heads and operatives, many of them having to do with operational orders about terror attacks.”
A’amar A’ashur Abu Hamza should not be confused with Abu Hamza al-Masri who is being held by British authorities in Belmarsh prison pending extradition by US authorities.
