Israel says French-Palestinian lawyer operated East Jerusalem terror network from overseas

Salah Hamouri, whose Jerusalem residency was revoked over PFLP ties, allegedly recruited five East Jerusalemites to ‘promote militant terror activity,’ say Shin Bet, police

Law enforcement uncovered a terror network in East Jerusalem allegedly operated from overseas by the French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri, the Shin Bet and Israel Police said Tuesday.

Hamouri, whose Jerusalem residency was revoked by the government in 2022 over his ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group, allegedly recruited five Palestinians from the city to “promote militant terror activity within Israel,” the joint statement read.

Hamouri was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a PFLP-linked plot to assassinate former Sephardi chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef in 2005, but was released early in a 2011 hostage-prisoner swap with Hamas.

Israel maintained that even after his release, Hamouri remained active in the group.

“Hamouri exploits his origins and ties to Israeli territory to recruit local terror operatives, while simultaneously conducting open activity related to the Palestinian issue,” said the Shin Bet and police.

“The terror activity he advances is conducted in a covert manner in parallel, under the guise of legitimate activism.”

Hamouri, who currently resides in France, allegedly met with members of the cell in various locations throughout Europe from 2024 to 2025 and equipped them with encrypted mobile phones with the aim of carrying out attacks in Israel.

The five suspects in the alleged network were arrested in November and December last year, the Shin Bet and police said.

The agencies said that two of the five suspects arrested in the case, brothers Yazid and Said Dadu, have already been charged with active membership in a terrorist organization, conspiracy to commit a crime and conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.

Said Dadu, 33, was indicted in the Jerusalem District Court in January this year, according an i24 News report from the time. According to the outlet, the man officially joined the PFLP in 2017.

Dadu was accused of meeting several times with the other suspects in 2024, in which the group allegedly formulated plans to raise funds and acquire weapons to carry out an attack on Israeli security forces, the outlet said.