State prosecutors filed an indictment with the Beersheba District Court against Munther Badir, 48, of Kafr Kassem, accusing him of involvement in the smuggling of prohibited goods into the Gaza Strip, the Justice Ministry said on Monday.
According to the prosecution, Badir was a central figure in transactions that allegedly moved prohibited goods into Gaza between August and December 2025 for major financial gain.
According to the indictment, Badir was allegedly involved, together with others, in completed and attempted smuggling operations involving, among other things, cartons of cigarettes, thousands of kilograms of cigarettes and tobacco, as well as generators, voltage converters, gas accessories, SIM cards, mobile phones, work tools, solar panels, and car spare parts. Prosecutors said the activity was aimed at generating profits worth millions of shekels per truck.
The prosecution alleged that, because of his extensive ties, Badir served as a key figure in the transactions, at times acting as guarantor, broker, trader, and supplier, while also maintaining contact with counterparts on the Gazan side to coordinate receipt of the goods in the Strip.
In some instances, prosecutors said, he also acted as an “operator,” mediating between suppliers and traders and those carrying out the smuggling itself.
Badir was charged with aiding the enemy in wartime, attempting to aid the enemy in wartime, obtaining something by fraud under aggravated circumstances, attempting fraud, and carrying out transactions in property for terrorist purposes and attempting offenses of the same kind, according to the prosecution announcement.
The case was investigated by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Lahav 433’s National Economic Crimes Unit, and prosecutors asked the court to keep him in custody until the end of proceedings.
A series of wartime Gaza-smuggling prosecutions
The case joins a growing series of wartime Gaza-smuggling prosecutions publicized by Israeli authorities in recent months, all built around the allegation that prohibited commercial goods were moved toward the Strip for enormous profit during the war.
In February, prosecutors indicted 12 Israelis in what they described as a sprawling smuggling operation involving cigarettes, mobile phones, batteries, vehicle parts, communication cables, and electrical equipment, which they said strengthened Hamas economically.
That was followed in March by another indictment against four defendants accused of repeatedly attempting to move truckloads of prohibited goods into Gaza outside the authorized inspection and transfer system, including cigarettes, tobacco, cellphones, solar panels, batteries, generators, and computers.
More recently, prosecutors filed charges against a Rahat resident in a separate affair, alleging that goods were smuggled into Gaza in coordination with military personnel, and last week, prosecutors filed prosecutors’ declarations ahead of expected indictments against two IDF officers and a civilian suspected of exploiting humanitarian aid trucks to move contraband into the Strip for profit.