World Vision, one of the world’s largest Christian humanitarian aid
organizations, said it has “no reason … at this time” to believe that
its operations manager in Gaza funneled tens of millions of dollars in
donations to Hamas’ military wing, as Israeli security officials
claimed.
The organization said in a statement Thursday (Aug. 4) it was “shocked”
to learn that the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security service, had
charged Mohammad El Halabi with providing support to Hamas.
The Shin Bet said in a statement that during interrogations over the
past six weeks Halabi admitted to being a Hamas activist and using his
position “to divert the humanitarian organization’s funds and resources
from the needy to benefit of Hamas’s terrorist and military activities.”
The security agency said “tens of millions of dollars” in donations
have funded weapons, “terror” tunnels into Israel, a Hamas military base
and Hamas militants’ salaries.
Both the U.S. and Israel consider Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, a terror organization.
World Vision, whose worldwide budget is close to $3 billion, said the
Gaza programs “have been subject to regular internal and independent
audits, independent evaluations, and a broad range of internal controls
aimed at ensuring that assets reach their intended beneficiaries and are
used in compliance with applicable laws and donor requirements.”
The organization said that “based on the information available to us at
this time, we have no reason to believe that the allegations are true.”
But Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, president of Shurat HaDin, an Israeli
legal rights institute that provides representation and resources for
victims of Palestinian terror attacks, said the Shin Bet’s charges
should come as no surprise to World Vision’s leadership.
“For years we have been warning that World Vision is funding
Palestinian terror groups in Gaza. World Vision has repeatedly denied
our charges and refused to seriously investigate where its funds are
going. Who knows how many of Hamas’ missiles and stabbing attacks were
funded by World Vision after they were put on notice that they were
financing Palestinian terror.”
Darshan-Leitner said some of the assistance to Gaza by foreign aid
organizations “is directly responsible for the murder of scores of Jews
in Israel.”
Gerald Steinberg, the president of NGO Monitor, an Israeli watchdog group, agreed.
Cash-strapped Hamas “couldn’t build those terror tunnels and run its
operations without funding from foreign humanitarian aid organizations,”
Steinberg said.
World Vision, which has provided assistance to Palestinian children for
four decades, said it will “carefully review any evidence presented to
us and will take appropriate actions based on that evidence. We continue
to call for a fair legal process.”
Michele Chabin is RNS’ Jerusalem correspondent
Courtesy: Religion News Service
Photo: Palestinian Mohammad El Halabi, front, a manager of
operations in the Gaza Strip for U.S.-based Christian charity World
Vision, is seen before a hearing at the Beersheba district court in
southern Israel on Aug. 4, 2016. Halabi is accused by Israel of
funneling millions of dollars in aid money to Hamas in Gaza, a charge
denied by the Islamist militant group.
Photo courtesy: REUTERS/Dudu Grunshpan
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