„Mohammad El Halabi is the executive director of World Vision in Gaza. He was arrested at the Erez Crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip in June and then charged in August by the Shin Bet—the equivalent of the FBI—with funneling tens of millions in donor aid to Hamas. Both the EU and the United States classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. Some of the funds diverted to Hamas were earmarked to help disabled Palestinians. (…)
The suspension of aid to World Vision is the latest German effort to rope in illicit funding and to crack down on terrorist organizations using charity status for covert operations. In 2010, Germany designated the IHH group as a terror entity. The German IHH group was connected to the Turkish IHH group, which was responsible for violating Israel’s legal naval blockade of Gaza in 2010. Israeli commandos intercepted the IHH’s Mavi Marmara vessel on its way to Gaza. The seizure of the ship resulted in the deaths of ten Turkish Islamists. (…)
The growing number of cases of terrorism finance via NGOs and UN agencies necessitates new kinds of controls to stop the misuse of funds meant for charitable purposes.“
(Benjamin Weinthal schreibt in The National Interest: „How Hamas Allegedly Embezzles Millions in Christian Charity“.)
