Aid group World Vision is furious after an Israeli court on charges that he funnelled tens of millions of dollars in relief funds to the militant group Hamas.
Mohammad el-Halabi,who has been detained for six years,was yesterday found guilty of supporting a terror organisation but acquitted of treason. His sentencing hearing is in July.
El-Halabi,head of Gaza operations for World Vision,an international Christian aid group,was arrested in June 2016,accused of siphoning off up to $US50 million ($71 million) to pay Hamas fighters,buy arms and fund the group’s activities.
El-Halabi has denied the charges and refused several plea deal offers. He has told Reuters the charges were “a set of lies” meant to target humanitarian work in Gaza.
World Vision Australia – which says it was funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide services in the region – disputes Israel’s claims. It says audits by DFAT,World Vision internally and an independent company found no evidence that money or supplies were diverted.
Tim Costello,former World Vision chief executive,slammed the guilty verdict as “a travesty of justice”.
“The verdict overnight announces the demise of the rule of law in Israeli courts,” he wrote in an published by this masthead.