Itongadol.- The Nazareth District Court on Wednesday issued the first conviction of an Israeli-Arab for involvement with Islamic State against Hamza Magamseh, 22, from the village of Yafia.
Wednesday\’s three-judge panel convicted Magamseh for making contact with a foreign agent, though on March 25, he was also convicted for membership in a banned organization, conspiracy to commit a crime and illegally leaving the country.
Magamseh was arrested in October 2014 for traveling to Syria to join Islamic State, the police and Shin Bet announced in November 2014.
He left for Turkey on October 5 along with three friends from his village of Yafia, adjacent to Nazareth.
He and two of the friends decided to continue to Syria in order to join Islamic State, crossed the border and contacted people from the terrorist organization, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said.
The three men were then taken to a training camp, where Magamseh spent 10 days before deciding to return to Israel by way of Turkey, the agency said. He was arrested upon landing at Ben-Gurion Airport on October 24.
The Shin Bet did not comment on the whereabouts of his friends who traveled to Syria with him.
Several Israeli Muslims have been arrested after returning from Syria, where they joined Islamic State or other rebel groups. Most, like Magamseh, were only in the country for a short time, and did not see combat.
One man, though, Ahmed Shurbaji, a 23-year-old from Umm el-Fahm, was charged in November 2014 with spending three months fighting with Islamic State in Syria, during which he attended a training camp, took part in two gun battles, manned a checkpoint and took part in patrols against Syrian state forces.
