by Giovanni Gicalone
On January 29th, 2024, the Italian police detained Anan Kamal Afif Yaeesh (Yaeesh Anan, 1987); the arrest was conducted in the city of L’Aquila at the request of Israeli authorities who also asked for Anan’s extradition. The individual is accused of being a leader of Al-Aqsa Brigades’ “Rapid Response-Tulkarem Unit” and of planning terrorist attacks against Israel from Italian soil. Among the targets, were members of the Israeli government, the army, the war cabinet, and the Jewish settlement of Avnei Hefetz.
In March 2024, two more Palestinians also residing in L’Aquila, identified as Ali Saji Ribhi Irar (1994) and Mansour Doghmosh (1995), were arrested and accused of being part of Anan’s al-Aqsa cell.
In the meantime, the judges of the Italian Appeal Court of L’Aquila refused Israel’s request for extradition, apparently turning the matter into a political case, obviously against Israel, and stating that “Anan could be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or in any case to acts which constitute a violation of human rights”, additionally indicating that “Israeli prisons are characterized by overcrowding, physical violence, poor hygiene conditions and lack of healthcare further worsened by the ongoing conflict”.
On January 24th, 2025, the Italian State TV Rai said that L’Aquila’s District Anti-Mafia Directorate and the Digos have closed their investigations. The three defendants will now face trial, the date of which has not yet been announced. Anan is being held in Terni prison while the other two have been released.
It is worth mentioning that the city of L’Aquila is located in a strategic position because it is not far from Rome but still secluded. The organizational activity on Italian soil was also optimal for the cell members because it allowed them to escape the controls of the Israeli security forces.
Anan’s terrorist activity
Anan has a long story of involvement in Palestinian terrorism: he spent years in prison in Israel for a series of attacks against Israeli targets, for taking part in the Second Intifada and he was even expelled by the Fatah secret services, where he served from 2002 to 2005, for terror-related issues. In September of 2005 he was arrested by the Palestinian police and locked up in Jericho’s prison from where he escaped six months later.
The legal papers of the trial indicate that Anan and his terror cell were collecting funds and planning a series of attacks against Israeli politicians, the war cabinet, and an armed assault similar to the one that occurred in southern Israel on October 7th, against the Israeli settlement in Avnei Hefetz. The cell planned to use video cameras installed on rifles and hats to film everything for propaganda goals. The cell was also in touch with members of the same Tulkarem unit who were killed on November 6th 2023 in an exchange of fire with the IDF in Tulkarem. Among them, Izz al-Din Raed Hussein Awad, Moamen Saed Mahmoud Balawi, Jihad Maharaj Ibrahim Shehadeh e Qasim Muhammad Rajab. Photos of some of these individuals the white band of the Rapid Response Group were found on Anan’s Facebook profile.
Moreover, despite their status of “unemployment”, Anan and his colleague Irar Ali Saji Ribhi, had respectively 8 and 9 open bank accounts. In one of these accounts, opened at the Italian Mail service through the Poste Pay card, more than 95,000 Euros were found.
How Anan found a safe haven in Italy
Anan’s European adventure started in September 2013, three years after being released from prison, when he obtained a Schengen visa from the Norwegian consulate in Ramallah and flew to Norway where he stayed for a few years before the authorities in Oslo revoked it following an extradition request by the Israeli authorities. That was due to the fact that some Palestinians arrested by the IDF in the West Bank claimed that Anan was a training officer for al-Aqsa and a weapon trafficker.
The Norwegian authorities consequently refused him international protection and his appeal attempt with the help of a lawyer also failed. Anan then moved to Sweden for three months in an attempt to obtain protection there, but once again it was refused.
In early October 2017 he boarded a train departing from Norway and reached Rome on October 8th. Despite the fact that he lacked any type of ID except for a photo of his passport and an ID copy provided by the International Red Cross (all his documents had been withheld by the Norwegian authorities) he managed to remain in Italy.
In Rome, he met some Arabs in a restaurant near the Vatican who suggested him to move to L’Aquila where “it would be easier to obtain a residence permit for international protection”. How did they know that? Why is L’Aquila such a “hospitable” city?
Anan followed the advice of these mysterious Arabs and went to L’Aquila where, on October 31, 2017, he had an interview with the Italian DIGOS police. On that occasion, he told them everything, including his career as an al-Aqsa member, his arrests by Palestinian and Israeli police, his escape from Jericho’s prison, the firefight with the IDF in 2006.
It is worth recalling that the Al-Aqsa Brigades are classified as terrorist organizations by the EU, the US, and Canada. Strangely enough, the Italian authorities let him stay, unlike their Swedish and Norwegian counterparts. In 2018, Anan proceeded with the request for international protection, and in 2019, he obtained a special protection permit.
In September 2022, the Court of Bari rejected Anan’s request for international protection for “reasons of national security and public order.” However, Anan remained in Italy and travelled abroad to Malaysia, the UAE, Malta, Germany, and Jordan.
During his last trip to Jordan in May 2023, Jordanian authorities arrested him, but he was released shortly after under unclear circumstances.
In November 2023, Anan was back in Italy. His permit of stay expired on November 11th, 2023 but, according to the investigators, no request for renewal was made. Anan even managed to rent an apartment, once again in L’Aquila, on January 7th , 2024, together with Irar Ali Saji Ribhi. At the end of that same month, he was arrested at Israel’s request.
The Italian authorities were clearly aware of his presence, as well as his al-Aqsa militancy. What would have happened if Israel had not requested his arrest and extradition? How is it possible that Anan was able to obtain such permits of stay, operate in Italy, and open eight bank accounts with money flowing despite being unemployed?
In the legal papers it is also stated that “after the October 7th , 2023 facts in Israel, the DIGOS police intensified its monitoring activity to spot individuals of concern for national security and detected Anan Yaeesh as potential author of projects of a terrorist nature potentially capable of also targeting interests and sites on national territory”. However, Anan entered Italy in 2017 and the Italian authorities knew of his presence at least from October 31st of that year.
As he told an interlocutor in Mestre during a phone call, Anan knew that he was under government surveillance. However, he was not worried about using Facebook, Whatsapp, and Telegram to communicate with key members and leaders of the al-Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank and Lebanon, such as Mounir al-Maqdah, whom Anan referred to as “Haj” or “boss.”
The political support for Anan
Anan’s extradition request by Israeli authorities found the immediate opposition of Italian left-wing and pro-Pal politicians such as Laura Boldrini, Stefania Ascari and Nicola Fratoianni, who mobilized against the measure.
Interestingly, those same already backed Mohammad Hannoun, the president of the Association of Palestinians in Italy and ABSPP who was sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury in October 2025 on accusations of being Hamas’ man in Italy and its money collector.
On February 14th, 2025, Boldrini, Ascari and Fratoianni hosted a conference at the Italian Parliament’s press room together with Wael al-Dahdouh, al Jazeera bureau chief in Gaza. Title of the conference: “Inside Gaza: testimony from the front”.
Wael’s son, Hamza Dahdouh, was killed in Gaza in January 2024 and, as indicated by the IDF, he served in Islamic Jihad’s electronic engineering unit, and previously was a deputy commander in the Zeitoun Battalion’s rocket force.
Anan also found support among far-left and anarchist factions that organized demonstrations outside courts and the prison in Terni where he is held, as posted in some of their websites such as Rivoluzione Anarchica (Anarchist Revolution) and Onda Rossa (Red Wave).
A few thoughts
The support of the left and far left for Anan is not surprising given the ideological commonality with the Palestinian formations. What is however very puzzling is the ease with which Yaeesh Anan managed to operate for seven years, opening eight bank accounts, moving thousands of euros and even speaking with terrorist leaders in Lebanon, planning activities against Israel, all under the eyes of the Italian authorities.
In September 2022, the Court of Bari rejected Anan’s request for international protection for “reasons of national security and public order”. However, Anan remained in Italy and even managed to travel abroad to Malaysia, the UAE, Malta, Germany, and Jordan.
It is worth recalling that, in addition to his terror-related background, Anan lacked any type of ID except for a photo of his passport and an ID copy provided by the International Red Cross when he reached Italy (all his documents had been withheld by the Norwegian authorities). How did he manage to travel? What would have happened if Israel hadn’t forwarded the extradition request to Italy? Would Anan be under arrest today?
Anan’s case sadly recalls the Lodo Moro mechanism of allowing Palestinian terrorism to operate as long as it does not target Italian objectives. This is indeed a problem.