Sabah Haniyeh, the sister of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau who was killed in July 2024, took the stand for the first time Thursday morning in her trial at the Be'er Sheva Magistrate’s Court.
She is charged with incitement and expressing identification with a terrorist organization, after allegedly sending her brother messages praising, supporting and encouraging the horrific massacres carried out by Hamas on October 7.
“God, keep them occupied with their dead bodies and take them, kill them — and leave no one,” Haniyeh wrote in one of the messages.
Prosecuting attorney Masaad Masaad questioned Haniyeh, whose defense is based on the claim that she is illiterate.
Masaad referred to testimony given in December 2025 by Haniyeh’s daughter-in-law, who was later declared a hostile witness because of contradictions between her testimony and the version she had previously given police. During questioning, the daughter-in-law said Haniyeh prays from the Quran, but in her testimony claimed she meant only that Haniyeh opens the book — not necessarily that she reads it.
Haniyeh’s attorneys presented an electronic pen and argued that the defendant uses it to read the Quran. On the witness stand, Haniyeh herself had difficulty operating the pen on the Quran that had been brought for her.
“I lived in Gaza and did not go to school,” she told the court. “I do not know how to read or write. If someone sends me a good morning message, I ask whoever is at home what it says. I have a book and an electronic pen that reads the text aloud to me. I press the buttons and it works.”
The prosecutor asked Haniyeh, a resident of Tel Sheva, about what she did on the morning of October 7.
“The whole world was in chaos. We hid in the basement. I asked, ‘What happened? What was going on?’” she replied.
Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau who was assassinated in July 2024
(Photo: Anwar Amro / AFP)
The prosecutor then moved on to October 9, the day on which, according to the indictment, she sent the messages of support to her brother.
“By then the picture of October 7 had become clear. Hamas had in fact launched a terrorist attack. You already knew, not from personal knowledge, that Hamas had attacked the State of Israel and murdered people. You knew from the news as well.”
The defendant continued to deny that she sent the messages to her brother and insisted that her cellphone was accessible to her children and grandchildren, and that she relied on her daughters-in-law to help her with correspondence.
The proceedings in Haniyeh’s case, which have been underway for more than two years, have been marked by numerous delays for various reasons, mainly at the request of the defense, with the prosecution agreeing to them.
Thursday morning’s hearing, scheduled for 9 a.m., was also delayed after Haniyeh’s attorneys requested a postponement without informing the judge. After the prosecution sent an intern to the hearing and Haniyeh’s attorneys failed to appear, the judge threatened to impose costs on all sides.
Haniyeh, 57, was arrested in April 2024 on suspicion of maintaining contact with Hamas operatives and identifying with the terrorist organization while carrying out incitement and supporting acts of terrorism in Israel.
During the raid on her home in Tel Sheva, forces found documents, media devices, phones, additional materials and evidence that police said linked her to serious security offenses. Hundreds of thousands of shekels were also found in the home during the search.