Palestinian Informant Who Helped Save Israelis Tells His Story for the First Time

A Palestinian man known as Hamudi, from Dahariya in southern Mount Hebron, has for years lived under death threats from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority after helping Israeli security services. In a rare on-camera interview aired by Channel 14, he described how he was repeatedly arrested by Palestinian Authority forces, tortured, and eventually escaped at the last moment before a court hearing.

According to his account, suspicions that he was collaborating with Israel began when he was young, even before that was true. He says those suspicions led to arrests and brutal interrogations, and eventually pushed him to begin working with the Shin Bet. In 2016, Palestinian Authority officials uncovered his cooperation, detained him again, and tried to bring him to trial.

Hamudi said that as he was taken to court, he chose to flee rather than face years in prison. He jumped from the third floor and escaped. After informing his Shin Bet handler, he was given shelter in a city in southern Israel, where he has tried to rebuild his life.

The danger did not end there. He says Hamas and other militant actors marked him for assassination, and his name was circulated with calls to kill him. Nearly a decade after his escape, he still lives in fear. In recent years, he has been cooking hot meals for soldiers and police in southern Israel, working with Erez from the Sderot command center to supply hundreds of meals each week. The report says details of what he did for the Shin Bet cannot be disclosed for security reasons, but people familiar with the case believe his actions saved lives. Hamudi says he still hopes one day to live quietly as a free man.