National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has asked the Israel Prison Service to explain how a terrorist managed to smuggle his semen to his wife, who went on to give birth to quadruplets.
Palestinian media claimed this week that Ahmad Shamali, who is serving an 18-year sentence in the Nafha prison in southern Israel for various terrorist-related offenses, managed to have his sperm carried over the Israeli border through the Erez Crossing with a doctor who made sure it would reach his wife in Gaza.
The wife gave birth in May in a hospital in east Jerusalem and only this week returned to the Gaza Strip, having stayed with the premature babies for several weeks in the maternity ward until they were healthy enough to come back home with her. Upon returning, the story of the unusual conceiving was revealed, leading to celebrations online and a display of the four babies.
Sources close to Ben-Gvir say that semen was smuggled before he became a minister in late December, but he nevertheless sees this as a major lapse and wants to impose more restrictions on inmates.
