Four Arab lawyers working in Jerusalem have been arrested in recent weeks for allegedly passing information from prisoners from Islamic Jihad jailed in Israel to the group's officials in Gaza, according to details that emerged Wednesday after a gag order was lifted.
Among the four is Suhir Ayoub, a 42-year-old female lawyer from Acre in northern Israel.
According to the suspicions against them, the four lawyers received letters from the security prisoners. Some of the messages were innocuous, and contained only greetings, but others dealt with the hierarchy of Islamic Jihad, appointments to various positions within the organization, coordination of strikes by prisoners and also the group's stance on Hamas.
In exchange for their services, the lawyers allegedly received thousands of shekels from Mahajat Al-Quds, an organization outlawed in Israel in June 2006.
Police said that the four confessed to the allegations against them, and searches of their homes turned up documents linking them to the alleged activity. Ayoub was to be indicted on Wednesday, while the investigation against the other three continues.
Ayoub's lawyer said that she denies all charges against her.
"She visited detainees within her role as a lawyer and the information she received from them exclusively related to their personal issues which had no connection to this or any other illegal terrorist organization," Ayoub's lawyer said.
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