Prosecutors in Lod have filed charges against Omar Riyad Abd al-Razak Uda, a 21-year-old man from Qalansawe in central Israel, for contacting a foreign agent and providing services for an illegal organization.
According to the statements, Uda periodically visited the al-Aqsa Mosque, located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
On three occasions in 2015, he allegedly took part in actions organized by Hamas, which including yelling at Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, helping reinforce the mosque while wearing a face mask, and throwing rocks at security forces trying to enter the mosque.
During the same year, Uda was in contact with a man in Gaza, even though he knew that the person in question was active in Hamas and the organization Al-Kutla al-Islamiya. Al-Kutla al-Islamiya is a branch of Hamas.
The terrorist asked Uda to photograph the al-Aqsa Mosque in order to publish the pictures on Al-Kutla al-Islamiya’s Facebook page. He later asked Uda to take still photographs and videos of a rally in Umm al-Fahm. Uda did so and sent the files to the Gazan man over Whatsapp.
In April 2016, the terrorist again approached Uda, first as through Instagram and later through Facebook. He asked Uda to “find him good guys, men,” referring to potential terrorists willing to preparing and placing explosives. As an example of the type of “guys,” the terrorist referred to “the shahid Abd al-Hamid Srour,” who was responsible for the bus bombing in Jerusalem that month.
At the conclusion of the pair’s discussion, the terrorist said that he would reach out again several days later, at which point Uda would give a coded response to say whether he was ready to recruit terrorists. The two did speak again, and Uda said that he himself was willing to place bombs to attack Israelis. The terrorist then explained that he would teach Uda how to prepare the explosives.
Later, after Uda and his Gazan friend agreed that none of Uda’s acquaintances would be a suitable choice, Uda chose not to respond to further Facebook messages from the terrorist.
