Hamas member Mohammed el-Halabi is accused of siphoning off $7.2 million dollars from the international aid organization World Vision; Germany, Australia have ceased funding the organization.
The international charity World Vision says Israel has accused the charity\’s Gaza Strip director of funneling what appears to be an impossible sum of money to Hamas.
Israel\’s Shin Bet security agency says Mohammed el-Halabi confessed to siphoning about $7.2 million a year to Hamas over five years. The agency says this is roughly 60 percent of World Vision\’s total Gaza budget.
World Vision Germany spokeswoman Silvia Holten said on Monday the charity\’s budget in Gaza in the last decade totaled $22.5 million. She says World Vision has stopped its Gaza operations amid investigations. Germany has suspended donations to World Vision in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Australia said on Friday it was suspending funding for relief group\’s operations in the Palestinian Territories.
Mohammad El Halabi was World Vision\’s manager of operations in Gaza, and was arrested by Israel on June 15 while crossing the border into the enclave.
According to the Shin Bet, el-Halabi crafted an elaborate scheme to funnel funds, food, medical supplies and agricultural equipment to Hamas. He fraudulently listed the children of Hamas operatives as wounded, created straw organizations, and inflated project costs to divert cash, the agency said. Building supplies intended to support farming projects were transferred to Hamas for constructing tunnels and military installations, according to the Shin Bet.