British National Arrested for Assisting Hamas
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Office)
Monday, 29 May, 2006

The Israel Security Agency (ISA) and the Israel Police, on 10.5.06, arrested
Iyaz Ali, a Pakistani-born British national, born in 1970. He admitted to
being a member of the UK-based Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), which is
suspected of supporting Hamas. He admitted to working for IRW's Gaza branch
as a project director since December 2005; he worked to transfer funds and
assistance to various Hamas institutions and organizations, including the Al
Wafa and Al Tzalah associations, which have been outlawed in Israel. He
also admitted that he worked in Jordan and cooperated with local Hamas
operatives.

Incriminating files were found on Ali's computer, including documents that
attested to the organization's ties with illegal Hamas funds abroad (in the
UK and in Saudi Arabia) and in Nablus. Also found were photographs of
swastikas superimposed on IDF symbols, of senior Nazi German officials, of
Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as well as many photographs of
Hamas military activities.

The IRW was established in 1984 in the British city of Birmingham. It has
branches in Gaza and Ramallah. The IRW provides support and assistance to
Hamas's infrastructure. The IRW's activities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza
Strip are carried out by social welfare organizations controlled and staffed
by Hamas operatives. The intensive activities of these associations are
designed to further Hamas's ideology among the Palestinian population.
These associations' educational and religious institutions incite against
the State of Israel and advocate terrorist actions against it and its
citizens. The associations provide support to the families of terrorists
who were wounded in actions against Israel, and to Hamas prisoners and
detainees. These associations thus promote Hamas's goals including the
destruction of the State of Israel.

Ali admitted that he was aware that several of the organizations supported
by the IRW in Judea, Samaria and Gaza were indeed identified with Hamas. By
agreement, Ali was released today (Monday), 29.5.06, with restrictions on
his movements. He will be deported from Israel in the coming days and will
be barred from returning.

The foregoing attests to the involvement of international funds and NGO's in
transferring goods and funds to organizations identified with Hamas, which
have been outlawed in the State of Israel. Israel is tightening its
supervision over the activities of such organizations.