Israeli police detained more than 40 people near Nazareth in a major crackdown on a suspected begging network that brought Palestinian women and children into Israel, including mothers who allegedly spent entire days soliciting money at busy intersections while holding infants in extreme heat.
The operation, carried out Friday by Northern District Police and Border Police officers, targeted apartments and makeshift shelters in wooded areas near the northern Israeli city. Among those found were children as young as four and five who police believe had been sent to intersections to collect money for adult organizers.
"We saw difficult and heartbreaking scenes," Inspector Tal Krispin, an officer with the Nazareth Police municipal policing unit, told ynet. "I questioned 21-year-old mothers who stood at intersections around Nazareth with babies less than a year old, begging all day in extreme heat of more than 40 degrees."
According to Krispin, some women could collect as much as 3,000 shekels in a single day. "They deliberately bring babies to attract attention and sympathy from drivers," he said, describing findings from police questioning.
Investigators believe most of the women came from the Jenin area of the northern West Bank, while others traveled from Nablus. Police suspect Israeli and Palestinian intermediaries arranged their entry into Israel and distributed them among busy intersections in Nazareth, Wadi Ara and Ahihud.
The alleged operation also involved young children who approached vehicles stopped at traffic lights, knocked on windows and asked motorists for money. Police believe the children were expected to hand over their daily collections to the adults who had sent them out to beg.
Many of the children were found living in wooded areas or temporary encampments near the intersections, according to police. Investigators are examining the roles of the adults suspected of organizing their activities and collecting the money.
The operation resulted in the detention of more than 40 people suspected of being in Israel illegally. Adult suspects were taken for questioning at the Nazareth police station, and a court extended the detention of several of them. Police said some women had previously been arrested multiple times but returned to Israel to continue begging.
Children below the age of criminal responsibility were transferred to Palestinian Authority representatives following coordination with the Israeli military. Adults being returned to Palestinian-controlled territory were taken to checkpoints, Krispin said.
The crackdown follows years of complaints about women and children approaching cars at major intersections across northern Israel. Around Nazareth, where tens of thousands of motorists travel through busy junctions, the practice has become a familiar sight, with young children moving between vehicles and mothers carrying infants approaching drivers for donations.
‘4-year-olds sleeping in the woods’
(Photo: Israel Police)
Beyond concerns about the suspected exploitation of children, local officials have warned that their presence on heavily traveled roads poses safety risks for both the children and motorists.
Shlomit Shichor-Reichman, head of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council, welcomed the police operation after what she described as dozens of requests for enforcement.
"After dozens of appeals I submitted on the issue, it is good to finally see decisive action to restore law and order at our intersections and throughout our region," she said, praising the Northern District Police and Brig. Gen. Ran Ofir.
Shichor-Reichman also described the presence of people staying in Israel illegally at major intersections as a security concern, warning that it could create opportunities for nationalist violence. She urged authorities to focus not only on those begging but also on the suspected organizers arranging their entry into Israel.
"Beyond the appalling exploitation of children, the presence of people staying in Israel illegally at major intersections constitutes a serious violation of sovereignty," she said.
She called on police to continue pursuing the intermediaries allegedly operating the network, saying enforcement should target those responsible for organizing the activities rather than end with the detention and removal of women and children found at the intersections.