Belgian Citizen Arrested at Jordanian Border, Said to Be Member of PFLP, Has Ties to Hezbollah

A Belgian citizen who had joined the Popular Front For The Liberation Of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization, was arrested last month at the Allenby crossing from Jordan, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) released for publication on Wednesday.

Mustafa Khaled Awad, 36, was arrested as he tried to enter the country on July 19. According to the Shin Bet, Awad was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon and later emigrated to Belgium.

A Shin Bet statement said his interrogation revealed that he had been recruited to the PFLP in 2010 and had been part of a cell active in Europe. Awad was also said to have been in touch with terrorist operatives in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, as well as in Judea and Samaria.

In 2015, Awad traveled to Lebanon where he received military training with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrilla group.

The Shin Bet said its investigation shed light on the rapprochement between Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations, the Shi’ite axis, and the Lebanese Hezbollah organization. Hezbollah, the Shin Bet said, has allocated resources and training facilities for Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations.

The investigation, it added, emphasized the danger posed by Arab terrorist organizations recruiting foreign nationals in order to send them to Israel.