Australian accused of Hamas ties held in Israel

An Israeli court on Monday ordered a Palestinian-born Australian-Jordanian dual citizen suspected of Hamas ties to be held in custody until the end of legal proceedings, his lawyer said. Eyad Rashid Abu Arja was detained on March 24 and charged with "belonging to an illegal organisation" and "activities on behalf of an illegal organisation" -- in this case Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group under Israeli law. He appeared before a court in Petah Tikvah near Tel Aviv on Monday, which ordered that he remain in custody until the end of his trial, which begins on July 18, his Israeli lawyer Leah Tsemel told AFP. "He is not a Hamas member, he just met with members of Hamas who asked him to obtain some items, which he did not do," Tsemel said. Tsemel said she had filed an appeal with the court, asking that Abu Arja be allowed to speak by phone with his wife in Australia. Last month, his wife Asma, who was also arrested but then released and is now back in Australia with her five children, told a Sydney-based newspaper she had been denied access to her husband, and a request for telephone contact was refused. "The allegations against him that he was spying for Hamas are preposterous," she told the Sun-Herald. The indictment, which claims to be based on Abu Arja's confession, alleges he had been in touch with the group since making contact with a Hamas cell during a trip to Syria in 2008. Abu Arja, a computer scientist, was also allegedly trained on the use of automatic weapons during the trip, the indictment said. Between 2009 and 2010, a Palestinian living in Saudi Arabia allegedly asked Abu Arja "for his help in obtaining encrypted telephones and panoramic photo equipment, as well as technology for guiding missiles." After expressing his intention to visit Israel, he was then tasked with photographing commercial centres, collecting maps and making contact with commercial businesses in Israel, the indictment alleges.