Israeli security forces have arrested a senior official of World Vision, one of the world’s largest Christian charities, for funneling tens of millions of dollars to Hamas.
Mohammad El Halabi, director of the Gaza branch of World Vision, is alleged to have led a double life as a senior figure in the Islamist organization and used his position, “to divert the humanitarian organization's funds and resources from the needy to benefit of Hamas’s terrorist and military activities.
A statement from the Ministry of foreign Affairs of Israel says, during the investigation into his activities, El- Halibi revealed that he diverted approximately $7.2 per year to the military wings of Hamas that were intended mainly to strengthen its terrorist arm. The funds were utilized to finance the digging of terror tunnels, construction of military bases and the purchase of weapons. This amounted to 60% of World Vision's annual budget for the Gaza Strip.
The total funds that El-Halibi managed to transfer over the decade of his work at world vision reaches tens of millions of dollars.
Hamas works closely with the governate of ISIS in Northern Sinai. Thus the growing capability of Hamas that this aid channel promoted served the strategic interest of the most destabilizing forces operating today in the Middle East.
See the MFA statement here: DG.World Vision.2016 אוגוסט 04.pdf