Israel has arrested a United Nations aid worker in the blockaded Gaza Strip, accusing him of supporting Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency announced Tuesday.
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According to Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, Wahid Abd Allah Borsh, 38, an engineer in UNDP was arrested July 16 on charges of assisting the terrorist organization.
The Shin Bet said Borsh used UNDP resources past year to build a jetty for Hamas’ naval forces and that upon request by Hamas he persuaded his managers to prioritize the reconstruction of houses damaged in conflicts with Israel in areas where Hamas members lived.
It follows the indictment late last week of the Gaza manager of the charity World Vision for allegedly funnelling millions of dollars to help Hamas build tunnels, purchase arms and construct military bases.
“No one is accusing UNDP senior management in NY of knowingly aiding Hamas activities, but when they fail to implement minimum controls in a place ruled by a murderous regime-as documented with OCHA in Syria-that could amount to extremely reckless conduct”, said Neuer.
Hamas dismissed the new allegations as a bid by Israel, which along with neighbouring Egypt blockades Gaza, to control the enclave.
Mr. Borsh had worked for the agency in Gaza since 2003 and his areas of responsibility included demolishing houses damaged during armed conflicts and clearing the rubbish from sites after demolition, the Shin Bet said.
Israel made clear “its expectation that the United Nations, and especially its aid agencies, will unequivocally condemn Hamas for exploiting the humanitarian aid system for its own aims”, he said.
No figures were provided on how much aid money he is alleged to have diverted.
The UN agency said in a statement that it would cooperate fully with Israeli authorities.
Palestinian staff of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) drive an official auto in front of its headquarters in Gaza City on August 9, 2016.
World Vision has stopped its Gaza operations while investigations are underway.
“World Vision’s cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past 10 years was approximately $22.5m, which makes the alleged amount of up to $50m being diverted hard to reconcile”, the statement read.
Hamas said in a statement that the allegations were “incorrect and baseless”.
According to the Shin Bet domestic security agency, Mohammed al-Halabi diverted $7.2 million (6.5 million euros) each year since 2010 to Hamas and its military wing, though his charge sheet does not specify an amount.
Israel also claim Halabi confessed to being a Hamas member.
“If any of these allegations are proven to be true, we will take swift and decisive action”, although added that the organization had “not seen any of the evidence”, and suggested the numbers had been exaggerated.
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Australia announced it was suspending funding for World Vision projects in the Palestinian territories pending the outcome of the criminal investigation, while Germany announced it was suspending funding for World Vision projects in Gaza.
