Israel accuses United Nations staffer of assisting Hamas

Palestinian Mohammad El Halabi (C), a manager of operations in the Gaza Strip for USA -based Christian charity World Vision, accused by Israel of funnelling millions of dollars in aid money to Hamas in Gaza, a charge denied by the Islamist militant group, is seen before a hearing at the Beersheba district court in southern Israel, August 4, 2016.

Despite claims of el-Halabi directing $7 million a year, the charity said its total budget for the region over the last decade has been only $22.5 million and that there have been no irregularities in independent audits of the charity’s finances.

The organization’s programs in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip include counseling hundreds of pregnant women on childhood health, providing training for language and math teachers, and leading vocational training for young people.

According to a statement released on Tuesday by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), or Shin Bet, 38-year-old engineer Waheed Borsh was arrested on July 16 and charged in a Beersheva court on Tuesday.

The Palestinian aid worker was listed as the official Save the Children contact for two programmes carried out in 2014 which were worth $1 million and $1.4 million respectively.

And in 2012, Richard Stearns, president of World Vision’s affiliate in the US, falsely accused Israel of denying Palestinian Christians the ability to attend Easter services in Jerusalem, stating that Israel only handed out 2,000-3,000 permits to these groups, when in fact it provided more than 20,000 permits.

“They don’t expect it to be used for terrorism and to build illegal tunnels”.

Hamas has denied that Halabi was a member.

“Mohammad (El Halabi) denies all these accusations”.

Following today’s indictment of a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) aid worker in Gaza for supporting Hamas terrorist activities (see press release below), UN Watch is calling on UNDP chief Helen Clark, a candidate to be the next UN Secretary-General, to draw conclusions, and for Ban Ki-moon to urgently establish an independent, global commission of inquiry to investigate the apparently pervasive subversion in Gaza of UN and other worldwide humanitarian aid funds by Hamas.

But given the deep distrust that runs through Gaza toward the Jewish state, doubts about the sensational charges are rampant.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said he was concerned about a “worrying trend of U.N. exploitation by Hamas”. “World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice”, the statement further read.

World Vision had already said it was “shocked” by Israel’s allegations, and while it had no reason to believe them to be true, it would review the evidence.

“There are broad ranges of internal controls aimed at ensuring that assets reach their intended beneficiaries and are used in compliance with applicable laws and donor requirements”, said Ms. Colin.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it “calls on the organization and others dealing in aid to the Gaza Strip to examine themselves and their local partners”.

Since the allegations emerged Thursday, Australia has suspended funding worth $3.8 million and the charity’s German wing said all funding from the German government has been stopped during the investigation.

The group will be provided full refunds on “in-country” costs.

Muslim charity groups anticipate having to step up their fundraising for Gaza, which suffers from a 43 percent unemployment rate – the highest in the world. “The Shin Bet also accuses Burish of creating a makeshift dry dock in Gaza for Hamas using United Nations resources”. According to the charity, El Halabi was last week charged with “providing support” to the fundamentalist political organisation. In recent years, its Gaza branch has focused on rebuilding the homes and businesses destroyed in the conflicts between Israel and Hamas.