JERUSALEM, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli authorities said on Thursday they had charged a 22-year-old Israeli soldier with carrying out espionage tasks on behalf of Iranian intelligence, following his arrest last month.

In a joint statement, the Shin Bet internal security agency and the police said that Rafael Reuveni, a resident of the southern city of Beersheba, "maintained contact with Iranian intelligence agents and knowingly operated under their direction."

Reuveni is charged with contacting a foreign agent and providing information to Iran, according to the statement.

According to another statement released by the State Attorney's Office, Reuveni carried out tasks such as filming a park, documenting a bus stop, and recording activity inside a shopping mall.

In one instance, he was sent to the city of Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv, to check whether a handgun hidden at a location was real or a toy. After refusing to hand the gun to another person, he was told to move it to a different spot in exchange for 2,000 shekels (about 616 U.S. dollars)

Prosecutors said Reuveni also provided information about the military base where he served, including details on manpower and emergency procedures, and promised to update the operative if the base shifted to wartime footing.

He was later asked to supply details about other individuals for possible recruitment and to retrieve a SIM card from a cafe, though he failed to locate it.

In total, the Iranian operative transferred roughly 2,700 U.S. dollars to Reuveni via a digital wallet, the State Attorney's Office said.

It was the second time this week that an Israeli was accused of spying for Iran. On Sunday, a man was charged with gathering information for Iranian intelligence, including by obtaining details from his girlfriend, a reservist at an air force base.

Since the start of the war in Gaza in 2023, the Shin Bet has uncovered dozens of espionage cases involving Israelis suspected of working for Iranian intelligence. Enditem