The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has apprehended five Pakistani nationals for unlawfully seeking employment in Israel, which is in violation of Pakistan’s laws. Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel and supports the establishment of an independent state of Palestine with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. The Pakistani passport explicitly states that it is valid in all countries worldwide, except Israel.
According to an FIA spokesperson, the operation was initiated last month after investigators identified a money trail of remittances and gathered substantial evidence indicating that these individuals had been working in Israel for several years. The suspects resided in Tel Aviv for a period of up to seven years and were employed as helpers and car washers.
All the arrested individuals are from the Mirpur Khas district of Sindh province, and a case has been registered against them for violating Pakistan’s Passport Act of 1974 and the Emigration Ordinance of 1979.
The FIA is currently searching for three additional individuals who were also working in Israel. The agency disclosed that these suspects entered Israel through an Israeli agent, whom they had paid sums ranging from Rs300,000 to Rs400,000 ($1,090 to $1,453) each. The agent facilitated their travel to Israel via the Jordan airport on a Schengen visa. Upon returning to Karachi, they traveled through Dubai from Jordan. The suspects were found to have been sending money to Pakistan using the Western Union money transfer service.
