27 months imprisonment for a doctor from Soroka Hospital convicted of joining ISIS

Tel Aviv - Ofoq News - Today, Monday, the Beersheba Magistrate Court issued a 27-month prison sentence for doctor Muhammad Azzam, who worked at Soroka Hospital, after convicting him of belonging to ISIS.

The court also sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence for 12 months, and imposed a fine of 15,000 shekels.

According to the ruling, Azzam underwent a long path of ideological extremism, pledged allegiance to the organization’s leader after the events of October 7, 2023, and also kept on his electronic devices instruction manuals for making explosives and toxic materials.

The ruling came within the framework of a case handled by lawyers Hovit Kantrovic and Tehila Naidam from the Public Prosecution in the Southern District.

Judge Shosh Shetrit concluded that Azzam systematically and continuously, from 2014 until his arrest in July 2024, consumed ISIS propaganda materials.

According to the court’s decision, over the years, Azzam deepened his adoption of the organization’s ideas, and decided to join its ranks after the October 7 attack, during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, and pledged allegiance to its leader.

The ruling indicated that his behavior witnessed more extremism after the pledge of allegiance.

The judge stressed that Azzam's actions were not merely out of curiosity, but rather reflected a deep and continuing path of extremism and an effort to acquire operational capabilities and preparations. The court considered that his possession of materials of an operational nature posed a potential and serious threat to the security of the state and the safety of the public.

The Public Prosecution requested the imposition of a long prison sentence, considering that the circumstances of the case are particularly serious, given the long period of extremism, the volume of materials collected by the accused, his joining the organization during the war, and the potential risks associated with his work as a doctor. The court also stressed the need to impose deterrent penalties in cases of belonging to terrorist organizations.

Lawyer Hovit Kantrovic, who managed the file for the Public Prosecution in the Southern District, said that the case is serious, as an Israeli citizen chose to join ISIS and pledge allegiance to its leader after October 7, and continued for years to consume propaganda materials for the organization, watch clips of fighting and executions, and download instruction manuals for making explosives and toxic materials.

She added that the court stressed in its ruling the seriousness of the fact that the accused worked as a doctor in a public hospital, where wounded civilians and soldiers were treated.

She continued: "There is an unimaginable gap between the role of the doctor, whose profession is based on compassion, saving lives, and a commitment to treating every human being, and his choice to belong to a deadly terrorist organization."

It considered that the punishment reflects the seriousness of the acts and the need for deterrence to prevent joining terrorist organizations, noting that the details of the accused were referred to the Israeli Ministry of Health to consider the possibility of withdrawing his medical license.