In Israel, former doctor sentenced to 27 months for ISIS membership — Jerusalem Post
A court in Beersheba, Israel, sentenced Muhammad Azzam, a former doctor at the Soroka Medical Center, to 27 months in prison for membership in the Islamic State terrorist organization (ISIS). As The Jerusalem Post reports, the court also imposed a fine of 15,000 shekels and a 12-month suspended sentence.
Judge Shoshana Shitrit ruled that the time Azzam had already spent in custody would be credited toward his sentence. Before being transferred to electronic monitoring, he had been held in custody for more than 17 months. He is to report to Dekel Prison on November 8.
Materials on explosives and poisons
Azzam was found guilty on April 27 following a trial. According to the court's findings, from 2014 until his arrest on July 16, 2024, he systematically viewed ISIS propaganda materials, including videos of fighting, executions, and beheadings, and sometimes forwarded them to other people.
After the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 and the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, Azzam, according to the court, pledged allegiance to the group's leader. The court also found that in 2024, while working at the Soroka Medical Center, he downloaded practical manuals on explosives and poisons.
Investigators found materials on his electronic devices organized into folders, some of which were password-protected. The court concluded that collecting and organizing such manuals indicated deliberate training and preparation for possible use, rather than mere curiosity.
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Defense position and circumstances of the case
The court ruling also mentions correspondence in which Azzam expressed approval of the October 7 crimes and shared related videos. In another conversation about wounded soldiers brought to the medical center, he, according to the court, wished death upon one of them.
The court considered Azzam's work as a doctor an aggravating circumstance because of his access to vulnerable civilians and wounded soldiers. At the same time, the verdict does not establish that he attacked or harmed patients.
The defense argued that Azzam's membership in ISIS was passive and that he did not take practical steps to carry out an attack, did not purchase materials for terrorist activity, and did not plan to travel abroad. The court took into account the absence of prior convictions, family circumstances, and difficult conditions of detention, imposing a sentence closer to the lower end of the established range.
The suspended sentence will apply if, within three years of his release, Azzam commits specified terrorist crimes or offenses against state security. He was also informed of his right to appeal the verdict.
