Former Hamas member Muhammad Masri was sentenced on Thursday to seven-and-a-half years in prison for being part of a terrorist organization and working towards terrorist goals - before the Hamas October 7 massacre attack.
The court said it took into account this fact - that he wasn’t tied to the attacks - and that he willingly turned himself in to Israeli authorities, in its sentencing.
His time as a Hamas member began in 2017, and he became a Nukhba operative - the special forces unit of Hamas’s military wing, which led the October 7 attacks - in 2021. He underwent a variety of training in that capacity, “the consequences of which we experienced firsthand on October 7,” reads the indictment.
Masri stopped working for Hamas in 2023, and certainly before October 7. He also admitted to his crimes, willingly handed himself in to Israeli authorities, and did not have a previous criminal record.
Masri's lawyers added that his two daughters, just two weeks old, both passed away on the day he was arrested, which the court noted led to his yielding to Israeli authorities.
He pulled out of the terrorist organization about a year before the October attacks. During this time, he underwent several weapons training, including with bombs, ambushes, attacks, and more. About once a month, he participated in armed surveillance stunts on the Gaza-Israel border. When he eventually crossed the border, he was indicted for infiltration.
Masri's conviction and sentence
Once the legal process began, so did mediation, which led to the Thursday conviction.
He admitted to the crimes of being part of a terrorist organization and operating in it, undergoing training for terrorist purposes, and operating with weapons for those same purposes, along with infiltration.
He will also serve a 12-month life sentence if he commits any of the charges against him again within three years of his release for his first indictment, and six months for the second. He was also fined NIS 5,000 - to be paid by June 1, or a 10-day prison sentence.
“At the end of the day, Masri is being served for his participation in a terrorist group, not for concrete actions that he carried out against the State of Israel, or for being part of any solid plan,” said the court.