Bezalel Zini, brother of David Zini, head of Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, has been charged with "assisting the enemy in wartime". He is accused of smuggling cigarettes and other goods into Gaza during the Israeli blockade. More than 10 people, including Bezalel Zini, face charges related to the smuggling network. Bezalel, 50, allegedly took about 14 cartons of cigarettes into Gaza on three trips and earned around $120,000 from these actions. The smuggling also involved iPhones, batteries, and car parts. Israel has tightly controlled goods entering Gaza, enforcing a total blockade during the conflict that caused famine. Cigarettes became a rare luxury, selling for up to $15 each at the peak of the war. The justice ministry said, "A central category of prohibited goods smuggled into the strip was tobacco and cigarettes, which have put a total of hundreds of millions of shekels into Hamas’s coffers since the start of the war." Zini’s lawyers deny the charges and say, "Regarding the offence of aiding the enemy during wartime, it is a complete inversion of reality." They added, "It’s only about cigarettes [and] any claim of aiding the enemy is baseless." Bezalel Zini is an Israeli army reservist and part of the Uriah Force, a semi-official unit with rightwing extremist volunteers. This group reportedly took heavy equipment like bulldozers into Gaza for demolitions and operated outside the official army command. The indictment says Zini exploited his position and used this cover to smuggle cigarettes. The rightwing newspaper Israel Hayom criticized David Zini, the Shin Bet chief, for not speaking about his brother’s actions. The paper said, "Zini should not be punished for his brother’s actions (assuming he is convicted), but he must tell the Israeli public the truth about treason allegations and other conspiracy theories, including in connection to the current affair."