Jerusalem: An Israeli citizen has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran, the Israel Police said Thursday in a statement.
The suspect, identified as 40-year-old Vadim Kuprianov from the central city of Rishon LeZion, was arrested by an elite police unit in cooperation with the Shin Bet domestic security agency, the statement said.
Police said Kuprianov was spotted taking photographs near the home of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as part of his alleged contacts with Iranian operatives, who had instructed him to purchase a vehicle-mounted camera for the task, Xinhua news agency reported.
Over the past two months, Kuprianov reportedly carried out a series of security-related missions, sending photos of locations in various cities to his handlers in exchange for payments, police said.
An indictment will be filed against him in a central district court following the investigation, the statement added.
An Israeli delegation had travelled to Cairo on Wednesday for talks with mediators on implementing the ceasefire with Hamas, with a focus on securing the return of the body of the last Israeli hostage believed to be held in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
“The meetings focused on efforts and operational details to secure the return of the body of the slain hostage, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili,” the statement said.
The delegation was led by Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostages and missing persons, and included representatives from the military, the Shin Bet domestic security agency, and the Mossad intelligence service.
Since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, Hamas has released all 20 living captives and returned 27 bodies. Gvili, an officer with the Yasam special riot-control unit of the Israel Police, is the only body Israel says remains in Gaza.
Hamas and the allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad group have said they have been unable to locate Gvili’s body despite searches at multiple sites in eastern Gaza.
Under the ceasefire deal, Israel has released around 2,000 Palestinians from its prisons and returned the bodies of hundreds of deceased Palestinians.
Israel’s state-owned Kan broadcaster, citing US officials, reported that a US-backed peace plan is expected to move to a second phase in January, which would include a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the establishment of an interim governing authority, and the deployment of an international stabilization force.
(IANS)
