Documents retrieved from Hamas’ Ministry of Interior and National Security (MoINS) in Gaza demonstrate that international NGO World Vision’s former director of Gaza operations, Mohammed el Halabi – who was convicted by Israel for diverting aid to Hamas – was an operative for the terror group. As seen in the documents, Hamas prioritized obstructing the case and disrupting Israel’s investigation, viewing the arrest and trial as a major breach of internal security. The evidence highlights the process by which Hamas closely monitored closed-door Israeli court proceedings, identified and interrogated suspected “leakers” in Gaza, and acted to prevent potential witnesses from reaching Israel in order to testify. 

These revelations highlight a central Hamas strategy for controlling and diverting aid and explicitly expose the false narrative promoted by World Vision officials, European diplomats, and UN officials, who, without evidence, repeatedly claimed that el-Halabi was innocent and that Israel’s investigation was illegitimate.  

Summary of Evidence 

On June 15, 2016, World Vision’s director of Gaza operations, Mohammed el-Halabi, was arrested by Israel.1 The majority of the funds involved were provided to World Vision Australia by the Australian government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) – see funding section below. On June 15, 2022, he was convicted in the Beersheva District Court of a series of terror-related offences, including providing building materials to Hamas for constructing and concealing military installations – including tunnels – procuring weapons, collecting intelligence on Israeli positions, diverting funds, hiring Hamas members, and manipulating the World Vision tender process to benefit the terrorist organization.

Moreover, according to the verdict, el-Halabi ensured that “the majority” of World Vision-funded packages of “food and hygiene products, blankets, etc.,” were “regularly provided” to members of Hamas military units, including during periods of armed conflict with Israel.

International Defense of World Vision and Condemnation of Israel

From the time of his arrest, throughout the trial, and during the appeals process, World Vision and its numerous allies repeatedly rejected the allegations of massive Hamas aid diversion.

On August 4, 2016, a World Vision press statement insisted that its “programmes in Gaza 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.”

In a February 2, 2017 statement, President and CEO of World Vision International Kevin Jenkin asserted “World Vision has not seen any credible evidence supporting the charges.”  He added that the NGO had contracted a “leading global accounting firm,” to audit its operations, and that “The review to date has not generated any concerns about diversion of World Vision resources.” (This review was not made public.)

(On March 21, 2017, in response to numerous queries, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced that it “reviewed the management of its funding to World Vision in the Palestinian territories. The review uncovered nothing to suggest any diversion of government funds.” Despite claims to the contrary, this statement did not reject or refute the charges against el Halibi, or comment on the activities of World Vision Australia.) 

On December 18, 2020, World Vision issued a statement claiming that it had “commissioned an externally-conducted forensic investigation. The investigation, completed in July of 2017, found no evidence of diversion of funds and no material evidence that El Halabi was part of or working for Hamas.” It is unclear how this investigation was conducted, what materials were reviewed, and the mandate from World Vision .

Following his conviction, World Vision Australia repeated the claims and declared, “We have not seen anything that makes us question our conclusion that Mohammad is innocent of all the charges.” Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia at the time of el-Halabi’s arrest, insisted, “He was an innocent man…he said ‘I didn’t do anything,’ and he didn’t.” In the Sydney Morning Herald, (June 16, 2022) Tim Costello and Conny Lenneberg presented their version under the headline “Guilty verdict against World Vision hero is a travesty of justice.”

Likewise, Amnesty International wrote that “Release of Palestinian aid worker after nearly nine years of unjust imprisonment ends appalling miscarriage of justice.”  Similarly, Amnesty Australia labeled el-Halabi a “prisoner of conscience,” who was “convicted after a grossly unfair trial.”

Additionally, Costello, EU diplomats, and UN officials criticized Israel during the trial – attacking both the judicial process and the verdict.2  For instance, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a press release on behalf of three Special Rapporteurs3 who “denounced Israel for abusing counter-terrorism laws to target and silence human rights defenders,” even demanding the verdict be overturned.

 

June 21, 2022 tweet by the EU mission to Ramallah (https://x.com/EUpalestinians/status/1539310543302864896)

 

Hamas’ admissions in the internal documents prove categorically that the World Vision investigation’s conclusions were false, and vindicate Israel’s conviction of el-Halabi.

El-Halabi was released by Israel in February 2025 as part of an agreement with Hamas to exchange terrorists for the release of Israeli hostages.

Contradictory World Vision Financial Reports

Inconsistent World Vision financial data discredited the NGO’s claims, even prior to the discovery of the internal Hamas documents.

In an August 2016 press statement, World Vision’s Kevin Jenkins claimed that “World Vision’s cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past ten years was approximately $22.5 million, which makes the alleged amount of up to $50 million being diverted hard to reconcile.”

As demonstrated in a number  of NGO Monitor analyses, World Vision appeared to operate multiple entities in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, publishing contradictory information and data.4

Importantly, in September 2024, the Israeli Registrar of non-Profits disbanded World Vision’s Israeli entity, following a multi-year investigation into numerous management and fiscal improprieties.  Likewise, the Registrar charged that the non-profit’s executive and oversight frameworks were non-functional and ineffective.   

Funding 

In 2023, World Vision International’s total reported income was $3.5 billion; total expenses were $3.5 billion, of which $369 million was allocated for “Middle East/Europe.” 

One of World Vision’s main supporters is the Australian government. In 2022-2023, World Vision Australia received AUD 39.9 million from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). 

(For more information about World Vision and its activities and funding, see NGO Monitor’s infofile on World Vision)

In 2021-2025, World Vision International participated in the implementation of West Bank projects totaling $5.2 million.  These include:

Hamas Acknowledges Ties with Halabi and Obstructing the Trial

A key document, dated March 11, 2020, is a report on “The detainee in Zionist prisons Mohammed Khalil Mohammed el-Halabi,5” authored by MoINS’ Branch of Counter Espionage. It details efforts to identify a purported security breach that allowed Israel to identify el-Halabi and his illicit activity, noting that “the aforementioned [Halabi] was in contact with [only a] very few parties of brothers in the positive [a term for Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades].6 (All documents were translated from Arabic by NGO Monitor.)

The report notes that “all the names of employees working in the association [World Vision] were detailed, under the assumption that the secret witness [in Halabi’s trial] is one of the association’s employees working in the Gaza Strip,” and that “all the names of employees in the association were examined with information found on the ‘security guide’ – Hamas’ database of individuals deemed “security threats”) …” (emphases added).

In a March 2020 report,7  Hamas authorities observed, “Our monitoring and coordination with all relevant parties in the case had a role in thwarting multiple schemes to bring about the conviction of Mohammed Al-Halabi” (emphasis added).

 Hamas Interrogation of the World Vision Whistleblower 

A March 11, 2020 MoINS report8 concluded that “the indications and evidence have been pointing to Mohammed Khalil Mehdi as the one who gave all the Halabi information.”

El-Halabi’s 2022 conviction reveals that Mehdi was indeed a whistleblower, and that he was fired from World Vision and interrogated by Hamas. Revealingly, el-Halabi had a copy of the interrogation on his personal computer. 

According to the verdict:

  • “…the complaint of Mohammed Mehdi, a WV (World Vision) accountant during the period relevant for the indictment, [who] alleged to the organization, inter alia, that the defendant used the organization’s money to assist Hamas. Mohammed Mehdi described the operative mechanisms that the defendant used, which were consistent with the operative mechanisms that were detailed by the defendant in his indictment.”
  • “Furthermore, the circumstances of Mohammed Mehdi’s firing from the WV (World Vision) organization, his interrogation by Hamas and the discovery of his interrogation on the defendant’s personal computer that was seized by the Shabak also constitute a significant evidential addition to the defendant’s confession.”

Interrogating World Vision Employees

Hamas counter-intelligence efforts related to the trial included interrogating and surveilling World Vision employees and restricting their freedom of movement.

According to a March 3, 2020 report9 authored by MoINS’ Branch of Foreign Associations, on March 2, 2020, World Vision Gaza’s “head of security and safety” was held for questioning by Hamas authorities, “as part of monitoring of the latest updates concerning the case of Mohammed el-Halabi…and due to information coming from the Division of Crossings and Borders…that the aforementioned was requested to testify in the Zionist court.” 

The April 2020 protocol of a Hamas Non-governmental Associations Committee meeting10 describes the interrogation of this World Vision employee by the Division of Foreign Activity.  He revealed to Hamas that a World Vision colleague had been contacted by a lawyer associated with el-Halabi’s trial, and was asked to meet with “Israeli intelligence” at the Beit Hanoun Crossing.  MoINS noted that this second person had since been placed under surveillance. 

The April document concludes, “the committee will receive a final report on the subject and affirm that World Vision employees would be prohibited from going out through the [Beit Hanoun] crossing” (emphasis added) in order to hamper the trial.

According to the March 3, 2020 report, the World Vision employee provided information on other World Vision employees, its Gaza office and court proceedings and orders for additional World Vision employees to testify in the case. The report ordered Hamas internal security “intensify the intelligence effort concerning the case and its developments,” and “continue to monitor the association’s activities and programs if it resumes its activity.”

Additionally, according to a March 11, 2020, MoINS report, Hamas authorities even employed a human source who “was present at the trial on November 21, 2019” and reported to them on the closed-door hearing. 

Conclusion

The el-Halabi case is a notable example of how Hamas infiltrated and exploited the humanitarian aid industry in Gaza to divert aid. It also demonstrates the lack of oversight and accountability regarding the misuse of taxpayer funds entrusted to humanitarian aid NGOs; the insufficiency of NGO, governmental, and UN investigatory processes; and the failure of NGOs to self-police. 

Moreover, the case reveals the reflexive demonization of Israel and the ease with which international actors are willing to disseminate false information and NGO narratives regarding Israel. UN, Australian, and EU officials repeatedly parrotted baseless claims regarding the case and the trial, preferring World Vision’s secretive “audit” over the proven evidence, and Israeli security and judicial mechanisms.

Regarding its commitment to preventing aid diversion, and ensuring transparency and accountability, World Vision proved itself incapable at best, and uninterested at worst.11 The NGO’s internal “audit” was a sham. 

Going forward, governments and international institutions like the EU must enact strict protocols for aid delivery and oversight to prevent mass aid diversion which is still continuing in Hamas-controlled areas of Gaza. NGOs must be held accountable for failure to comply with these regulations and barred from participating in aid delivery if they are unwilling to act.