A United Nations employee working in Gaza has been arrested for using his position at the UN Development Program (UNDP) to directly help Hamas, Israeli officials revealed on Tuesday.
Advertisement
In a statement on Tuesday, Shin Bet (ISA) said Waheed Borsh, 38, had been arrested on 16 July. He was indicted two weeks ago, it said, the Associated Press reported.
The UNDP is tasked with projects to help the Strip’s inhabitants, including projects to rehabilitate homes damaged in warfare.
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. “These Israeli claims are baseless and the objective of these claims is to justify the continued siege on Gaza”.
A lawyer for Mr. Borsh couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. While on August 1, Save the Children organization said that it would begin investigation following similar accusations made by Israel.
It said he used United Nations resources to build a military jetty and prioritised rebuilding homes of Hamas members.
According to a statement obtained by the Guardian from Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet, El Halabi funnelled tens of millions of dollars from the charity’s coffers to Hamas “to strengthen its terrorist arm”.
Many Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are bracing for the fallout as authorities prepare to lay out the case against Mohammed El Halabi, the chief executive of World Vision and one of the most prominent aid executives in the territory.
World Vision Germany spokeswoman Silvia Holten said the charity’s budget in Gaza in the last decade totaled $22.5 million (£17.34 million).
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri rejected the Israeli allegations, describing Israeli claims as a “scheme to tighten the 10-year-old siege on the Gaza Strip” by “undermining the flow of funds for aid agencies”.
But they say materials and goods taken into Gaza are subject to some of the strictest monitoring in the world and say Israel uses concerns around Hamas as an excuse to restrict import of basic goods into the enclave. Egypt has imposed its own blockade on the territory.
It said Bursh also persuaded his UNDP superiors to prioritise the neighbourhoods of Hamas operatives when earmarking money for reconstruction in Gaza, which was devastated by a 2014 war with Israel.
Advertisement
The indictment filed against Burish in a Be’er Sheva court accuses him of aiding the terror group. Please see our terms of service for more information. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties.
