Israel’s Shin Bet security agency on Tuesday announced the arrest of a United Nations humanitarian aid worker for allegedly providing “material assistance” to Hamas’ military efforts in the Gaza Strip.
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Hamas, which seeks the elimination of Israel, is identified as a proscribed terrorist organisation by Britain, the European Union and the US. Shin Bet alleges that he fraudulently listed the children of Hamas operatives as wounded, created straw organizations, and inflated project costs to divert cash, according to the AP.
But the 66-year-old former marine engineer also plans to request evidence from World Vision that the two children he sponsors, by contributing S$90 a month, are genuine and have been receiving benefits.
World Vision had appointed a Palestinian lawyer and his son had denied the charges, he said Monday. World Vision said he had “displayed compassionate leadership on behalf of the children and communities of Gaza through hard and challenging times, and has always worked diligently and professionally in fulfilling his duties”.
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.
If Halabi is proven guilty of the allegations against him, then Hamas is jeopardizing humanitarian aid for its own people on objective.
On June 15, the Shin Bet arrested Halabi, a member of Hamas since 1995 who was groomed to infiltrate the worldwide charity more than a decade ago, the security agency said.
Palestinian staff of the United Nations Development Programme drive an official auto in front of its headquarters in Gaza City on Tuesday. They fear the arrest could cast a shadow over all global aid efforts to boost the Palestinians. “World Vision has detailed procedures and control mechanisms in place to ensure that the funds entrusted to us are spent in accordance with applicable legal requirements and in ways that do not fuel conflict but rather contribute to peace”, it added. But the Christian charity, which focuses on children, said its operations in Gaza have been audited and that “based on information available to us at this time, we have no reason to believe that the allegations are true”.
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”. “Terrorism has become a phobia for many countries, and they will pull out of projects in Palestine”.
Parts of Gaza were heavily damaged in the war between Hamas and Israel in 2014 and are still being rebuilt. She said the PFLP used front organizations that appeared as beneficiaries on the World Vision web site. He said World Vision monitored his project during the three years he received funding.
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“I’ve great faith in this organisation worldwide, (and I) quite like the way they work”, he said.
