© Abed Rahim Khatib/ APA images
A Palestinian boy pushes the wheelchair of his 5-year-old brother Ayman Mahmoum, who was injured during Israel’s 2014 assault, past rubble in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on 29 July. Israel’s campaign against aid agencies may further hamper already glacially slow reconstruction.
A Palestinian boy pushes the wheelchair of his 5-year-old brother Ayman Mahmoum, who was injured during Israel’s 2014 assault, past rubble in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on 29 July. Israel’s campaign against aid agencies may further hamper already glacially slow reconstruction.
Meanwhile, the global Christian charity World Vision has rebutted Israeli claims that its Gaza director could have diverted tens of millions of dollars to the Palestinian resistance organization Hamas.
Israel detained Mohammad El Halabi in June, interrogated him for more than 50 days and then charged him with diverting up to $50 million to the military wing of Hamas.
There are also new indications that Israel's Shin Bet secret police tortured Halabi to extract the confessions it is relying on.
On Monday, Kevin Jenkins, president and CEO of World Vision International, said his organization is "seeking to understand the truth behind the allegations laid against Mohammad El Halabi," and had suspended operations in Gaza pending investigations.
Jenkins added that "we still have not seen any of the evidence."
"World Vision's cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past ten years was approximately $22.5 million, which makes the alleged amount of up to $50 million being diverted hard to reconcile," Jenkins said. He also noted Halabi's signing authority to spend funds was limited to to just $15,000.
Comment: Israel is ramping up its efforts to control matters in Palestine even as its grip on public opinion is weakening. The desperate regime is enlisting all the help it can get to quell the voices of charities such as World Vision, BDS and other pro-Palestinian rights movements.