Israeli Major General David Zini (L) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (X)
Prosecutors on Feb. 5 filed charges against the brother of the head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency over the alleged smuggling of cigarettes into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Bezalel Zini, the brother of Shin Bet chief David Zini, is charged along with other defendants in the case with "assisting the enemy in wartime, performing transactions in property for terrorist purposes, obtaining something by fraud under aggravated circumstances and taking bribes," the Justice Ministry said.
"A central category of prohibited goods smuggled into the Strip was tobacco and cigarettes, which have put a total of hundreds of millions of shekels into Hamas's coffers since the start of the war," the ministry added in a statement.
Israel controls the entry of all goods and people into the Palestinian territory, where humanitarian conditions remain dire despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which came into effect on Oct. 10, 2025.
The Justice Ministry described the smuggling operation as a "serious case of organized, systematic and sophisticated smuggling of various goods into the Gaza Strip for profit," which began in the summer of 2025, when war was still raging in Gaza.
