Southern Israel Resident Charged for Praising Hamas Terrorist on TikTok

The Southern District Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against Dipalah Abu Regila, 19, from the town of Shagav Shalom, for numerous offenses including incitement to terrorism, expressing identification with a terror organization, and directly calling for terrorist acts. These charges stem from 45 posts Abu Regila published on his TikTok account, which contained incitement and expressions of solidarity, particularly concerning the October 7th Hamas attacks and other terrorist incidents.

The indictment, submitted by attorney Noam Eliyahu Lev, details that Abu Regila's TikTok account had 877 followers and approximately 5,500 likes, with all his posts publicly accessible. In the months leading up to his arrest, and intensely on a daily basis during August, Abu Regila reposted content from pages associated with Hamas and memorial pages for terrorists. His publications included material documenting the October 7th attack and content glorifying terrorists such as Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, Ahmed Yassin, and Ibrahim al-Nabulsi.

One of the alleged posts shared a video praising Mu'in Mu'ammar for murdering 20 Israelis in 10 minutes during the October 7th massacre. Another post, classified as a direct call to commit a terrorist act, shared a video presenting jihad and combat as a religious obligation and a path to purifying the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Alongside the indictment, the prosecution requested that Abu Regila be held in custody until the legal proceedings conclude. The arrest request emphasized that the volume and nature of his publications, including the direct call for terrorism, demonstrate his dangerousness. The current security situation in Israel, the request stated, exacerbates the risk posed by such offenses and the danger to public safety if he were released.

The investigation into Abu Regila was conducted jointly by the Southern District's Central Unit of the Israel Police and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).