Israel has indicted an intelligence agent on charges that he profiteered from the smuggling of goods into the Gaza Strip during the two-year war in the territory, Israeli prosecutors said Thursday.
The case, which was reported first by the Israeli television network i24 News, is the first instance to become public in which an agent of the Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence agency, has faced such charges since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. But it adds to a growing list of cases against Israeli citizens, including military reservists, accused of exploiting their roles in delivering aid to Gaza for personal gain.
Moshe Lador, a former state attorney who said he does not have direct knowledge of the case, called the allegation “an embarrassment for the state of Israel.”
If the charges are proven, he said, “it is a brutal abuse of power, especially since the organization the person works for operates in the shadows, which might have made him think he could get away with the crime.”
Since the war in Gaza began with a Hamas led-attack on Israel in October 2023, Israel has tightly restricted the entry of food and other essential goods into Gaza and, at times, imposed a full blockade on the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli measures led to a humanitarian crisis during the war, with much of Gaza, home to more than 2 million people, facing severe food shortages. In August of last year, a U.N.-backed food security group said famine was unfolding across most of Gaza, citing months of severe aid restrictions imposed by Israel.
Israel repeatedly blamed Hamas, at least in part, for the food shortages. It says the group steals and hoards supplies entering Gaza, and that the restrictions Israel imposed were intended to prevent the militant group from profiting or using food to wield power over the population.
Gaza, which borders Israel and Egypt, was completely sealed off by Israeli forces in May 2024, effectively controlling all access in and out of the territory.
Restrictions on aid and supplies also caused a sharp rise in prices at Gaza markets, with the cost of basic goods skyrocketing.
Since a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas came into effect about five months ago, Israel has allowed more aid and commercial goods into Gaza, driving food prices down. But many commercial items, such as cellular phones, are still blocked.
To meet the demand, officials say, some Israelis have exploited their roles in the military or intelligence services to operate lucrative side businesses supplying Gaza’s markets.
The prosecutors’ statement on Thursday said the intelligence agent, an unspecified number of other Israeli citizens and one Palestinian were all accused of receiving “large amounts of money” in bribes and of “aiding an enemy during wartime.”
The Shin Bet confirmed that one of its members had been arrested. The name of the agent was under a court gag order.
Earlier this month, Israeli prosecutors charged more than 10 Israeli citizens with smuggling cigarettes and other goods into Gaza. Some were military reservists who moved in and out of Gaza through army checkpoints, both before and after the cease-fire took effect. A few pocketed millions of dollars, according to the indictments shared by the prosecutors.
One of the reservists charged is Bezalel Zini, the brother of David Zini, who was named head of the Shin Bet in October by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His arrest quickly became politicized, with government supporters portraying the case as an attempt to undermine his brother’s leadership of the internal security apparatus.
It was unclear whether Thursday’s charges against a Shin Bet officer were connected to the case against Bezalel Zini.
Natan Odenheimer is a Times reporter in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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