Sameh Maraaba (born 19 March 1992) is a Palestinian footballer who plays for Al-Sareeh as a forward in the Jordanian Pro League and for the Palestine national team.
Maraaba was arrested by the Israeli Defence Force on 28 April 2014 at the border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank as he returned from a training camp in Qatar.
[4] A spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed they had "concrete information that he was carrying, or was involved in the potential transfer of communication equipment and finance on behalf of Hamas".
[5] Maraaba denied the claims, with the Palestinian Football Association claiming that he had been "carrying money back to his football club which had been given to him by an ex-colleague of the club who had previously been jailed by Israel as a member of Hamas".
[5] As a result, Maraaba was detained for a period of 7 months, resulting in him missing Palestine's 2014 AFC Challenge Cup campaign (in which Palestine would ultimately win, qualifying for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in the process), the 2014 Asian Games (in which Palestine made the Round of 16), and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia.