The French prosecution charged a young Palestinian man living in the capital, Paris, with “financing terrorism and complicity in assassination attempts” on suspicion of his connection to attacks against Israelis in the occupied West Bank last year, based on Israel’s reporting of him.
On Thursday, Agence France-Presse quoted the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecution Office as saying that the Palestinian youth “was placed in pretrial detention and is being tried on charges of belonging to a terrorist group with the aim of preparing crimes of assault on persons, financing terrorism, and complicity in assassination attempts related to a terrorist organization.”
She explained that the investigations against him came within the framework of an investigation opened by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecution on December 28.
A source familiar with the case said that this investigation “was opened after a notification from the Israeli judiciary to the French authorities.”
The source did not mention the young man’s name, saying only that he is a Palestinian about 35 years old and has lived in France for several years. The prosecution presented him as a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah movement led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
According to the source, “He is suspected of being linked to attacks against Israelis in the occupied West Bank in early 2023, and of having sent money to the Phalange. In this case, in which the events took place abroad, the French judiciary has the right to investigate due to the accused’s place of residence in France.”
It is noteworthy that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have been included in the list of organizations classified by the European Union as “terrorist” since 2002.
