In June 2016, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) arrested Mohammed El-Halabi, manager of Gaza operations for the international aid organization World Vision, and charged him with diverting $50 million to terrorist organizations for construction of tunnels and other terrorist activity
According to the indictment against him, El-Halabi used fictitious humanitarian projects and agricultural associations to act as a cover for the hijacking of monies and materials to Hamas.
On June 15, 2022, the Be’er Sheva District Court convicted El-Halabi for diverting aid money and resources from World Vision to Hamas.
Below is NGO Monitor’s research on World Vision.
A number of NGOs that receive Australian funding lead campaigns and political activities that are inconsistent with Australian government policies to promote peace and a two-state framework in the Arab-Israeli conflict. These NGOs are centrally involved in anti-Israel BDS campaigns and lawfare.
According to an Israeli court verdict, in June 2022, the Be’er Sheva District Court convicted the manager of operations for World Vision in Gaza of the diversion of humanitarian aid to Hamas while employed by the NGO. Other offenses included contact with a foreign agent, membership in a terror organization, illegal use of property for terror purposes, and providing information to the enemy.
On June 15, 2022, Mohammad el-Halabi was convicted in the Beersheva District Court of diverting funds and materials to Hamas for terror purposes. At the time of his arrest in 2016, El-Halabi was the head of World Vision.
The Be'ersheva District Court's convicted Mohammad El-Halabi for diverting aid money and resources from the international humanitarian organization World Vision to Hamas.
On November 3, 2021, the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits petitioned the Jerusalem District Court to dissolve an Israeli non-profit organization belonging to the international aid agency, World Vision. As justification for the request and following a multi-year investigation, the Registrar alleges that the local non-profit did not implement humanitarian projects as it claimed to and conducted financial transactions for purposes other than its stated goals – including providing funds to Hamas. Moreover, the Registrar charges that the non-profit’s executive and oversight frameworks were non-functional and ineffective.
NGO Monitor submitted an analysis to the US State Department of several key dimensions related to this issue in 2021, highlighting the extreme ideological positions and methodological failures that define NGO reporting on Israel.
Professor Gerald M Steinberg discusses the accusations surrounding World Vision.
World Vision continues to operate three entities responsible for Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.
On June 28, 2018, The Daily Telegraph (Australia) ran an exclusive article on how the Australian government will audit “taxpayer funds [that] are being funnelled to a Palestinian aid organisation that has employed and supported a leader of a terrorist group in Gaza.”
A Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) contractor who was killed on April 6 during the violence along the Gaza-Israel border, has reportedly been exposed as an officer in the Hamas terrorist group. If true, then this is another worrying example of Hamas infiltration of an international aid organization.
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