Israel charges U.N. employee in Gaza Strip for assisting Hamas
Israel on Tuesday indicted a Palestinian U.N. employee in the Gaza Strip of assisting Hamas, days after it charged the Gaza manager of the charity World Vision for allegedly diverting millions of dollars to the group.
According to Israel's Shin Bet security agency, Waheed Borsh, 38, an engineer for the United Nation's development agency (UNDP), sent resources to Hamas and kept the terror group out of trouble with the international organization, the Times of Israel reported.
Shin Bet arrested Borsh in July and said he was indicted two weeks ago, the Associated Press reported. Borsh was formally charged Tuesday in a Beersheba court for assisting Hamas.
Borsh told investigators during his interrogation that in 2014, he was directed by Hamas to “focus on his work in the UNDP in a way that would allow Hamas to extract the greatest possible benefit from him,” the Shin Bet said, according to the Times of Israel.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said it informed U.N. officials of the arrest and expects the U.N. to "take concrete measures to ensure that humanitarian activities actually assist those in need in Gaza instead of assisting the terrorist leaders of Hamas," according to the AP.
“Along with that, we must increase the oversight of the moneys that flow to human rights organizations, which are repeatedly used to transfer money to terrorist groups,” Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said in a statement, the Times of Israel reported.
Hamas denied the allegations, calling the claims "baseless" and saying they are being used "to justify the continued siege on Gaza."
Mohammed el-Halabi, project manager for World Vision's Gaza office, was charged last week with funneling about 60% of the charity's yearly budget to Hamas.
The Shin Bet says el-Halabi crafted a plan to funnel funds, food, medical supplies and agricultural equipment to Hamas, the AP reported. The security agency also claimed el-Halabi fraudulently listed children of Hamas operatives as wounded, created straw organizations and inflated project costs to divert cash. Building supplies were transferred to Hamas for construction of tunnels and military installations, the AP reported.
World Vision has stopped its Gaza operations while investigations are underway.