A Gazan aid worker was convicted on Wednesday of transferring millions in funds to the Hamas terror group.
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The Beersheba District Court found Mohammad el-Halabi guilty of supporting a terror organization, but acquitted of treason. His sentencing has been set for July 10.
Halabi was arrested in 2016 and has been detained ever since. He served as the head of the Gaza branch of World Vision, an international Christian humanitarian organization. He was accused of siphoning off up to $50 million to pay Hamas terrorists, buy arms and fund the group's activities.
The full verdict was classified, but the judges said their conviction centered on a confession by Halabi, which they stated was "detailed, coherent, with signals of truth and particular details" and matched the details of other testimonies and evidence.
Halabi's attorney said he was planning to appeal the sentence once announced. World Vision spokesperson Sharon Marshall said the organization acknowledged the verdict "with disappointment" and said it would support any appeal because it believed Halabi was innocent.
In a separate case running parallel to Halabi's trial, Israel's Corporation Authority, which oversees NGO activities, petitioned a Jerusalem court to dissolve World Vision in Israel, official documents obtained by Reuters showed.
A 2021 review of the organization by the Department of Non-Profit Associations and Charitable Companies determined there were "serious flaws" in World Vision's activities that involved the transfer of funds to parties "known to be terror operatives", though the report did not provide elaborate on whether by "terror operatives" it meant Halabi or others.
A judge is set to rule on whether to dissolve the organization in Israel later this month.
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