The daughter-in-law of Sabah Abd al-Salam Haniyeh, the sister of former Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed by Israel, was declared a hostile witness in an Israeli court after her testimony contradicted the statement she previously gave to police. The first evidentiary hearing opened Wednesday in the case against Sabah, after the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment in Beersheba Magistrate’s Court charging her with incitement and expressing identification with a terrorist organization, after she allegedly sent her brother messages praising, sympathizing with and encouraging the horrific Hamas massacre of October 7.
The daughter-in-law, who testified on behalf of the prosecution, took the stand as part of the case. She claimed during the hearing that she has “memory problems” and needs to take medication. She said the two women have lived on the same plot of land for 30 years and maintain a good relationship. She then testified that she communicates with Sabah via WhatsApp, but that the children or grandchildren in the house are the ones who write the messages on Sabah’s behalf.
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Sabah Abd al-Salam Haniyeh, the sister of former Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh, in Be'er Sheva courtroom
(Photo: Harel Yosef)
“Usually she doesn’t have a phone. Maybe the children were doing it [writing],” she testified, adding that WhatsApp has an option to record a message that is then converted into text. “Because of the mistakes, I thought she was writing. But I don’t know. Maybe her grandchildren write. There are a lot of mistakes. I never saw her writing. There are people in the house. I thought everyone was like that. Someone who doesn’t know how to read and write knows how to record, and it writes by itself. That’s what I thought she was doing. That’s what I thought.”
Prosecutor Rachel Karol confronted her with her police statements, in which she said that Sabah herself writes to her with spelling mistakes or replies with voice recordings, and also noted that she had said Sabah can read. “They asked you at the police if she can read, right? And you answered yes.” The daughter-in-law replied: “I thought so then, but she can’t. I thought that because someone answers me on the phone, but it turned out the children play with her phone. Most of the time it was with them.”
“You’ve known her for 30 years, you’re just guessing that she knew how to read?” the prosecutor asked. The daughter-in-law answered: “I don’t know. She doesn’t read and she doesn’t write.”
Her courtroom testimony contradicted her police statement and aligned with the defense’s position. According to the defense, Sabah’s mobile phone was “the grandmother’s phone in the house” and was used by family members living together. The phone was unlocked and used by various relatives, including children.
In light of this, the prosecution asked the court to declare her a hostile witness. “The witness is standing by what we believe is a false version,” the prosecution argued. “Now, for the first time, she is presenting this version and showing hostility precisely on the core issue in dispute.”
Judge Shosh Shitrit agreed, stating: “The testimony is materially different [from what she gave to police]. She has known her for 30 years. I’m asking myself the same question as the prosecution — she doesn’t know whether she can read and write?”
During the hearing, the daughter-in-law clarified that when she was asked by police whether Sabah reads the Quran and she answered yes, she meant that Sabah opens the book — not necessarily that she reads it.
“My mother also doesn’t know how to read and she opens the Quran. Even looking at it counts as reading — religiously. You open the Quran, even if you just look at it, it’s considered reading for us,” she said. “Saying verses means she reads the Quran. Even a baby, my granddaughter, ‘reads’ the Quran. Does that mean she writes?”