Israeli Man Sentenced for Spying for Iran, Filming Near Gallant’s Home

The Haifa District Court on Tuesday sentenced Fares Abu al-Hija, 32, a resident of Kaukab Abu al-Hija in northern Israel, to four years and seven months in prison, plus an additional two-year suspended sentence. Under a plea agreement, he was convicted of maintaining contact with a foreign agent.

During the investigation, authorities received information that he had been in contact with an Iranian intelligence operative and had received money in exchange for carrying out various assignments. He was arrested after being caught photographing streets near the home of then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the moshav of Amikam.

The spy was arrested in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and Israel Police in February 2026. According to the indictment, between October 2025 and January 2026, Abu al-Hija communicated via Telegram with a person who called himself "Martin" and carried out a series of assignments for him in exchange for payments transferred through the Binance app. According to the charges, Abu al-Hija performed the tasks despite "suspecting that this was a foreign agent, and refraining from investigating that suspicion."

As part of the assignments he was given, he purchased and hid cellphones and a charger at several locations in Haifa and Kiryat Haim, activated the devices, installed communication apps on them, documented the hiding places, and sent the documentation to his handler. He was later asked to deliver an envelope containing an access code for a crypto account to a location in Zichron Yaakov, as well as to photograph a cafe in Tel Aviv.

In January 2026, he was asked to go to Amikam, where Gallant lives, and photograph streets near the former defense minister’s home. After sending the documentation to his handler, he was arrested at the scene.