El-Halabi was released in February 2025 as part of an Israel-Hamas hostage and prisoner exchange.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Newly analyzed internal Hamas documents indicate that the group coordinated around the legal case of Mohammed el-Halabi, the former Gaza director of World Vision, and took steps to obstruct his prosecution in Israel, according to an analysis published by NGO Monitor.

The documents, described as originating from Hamas’ Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza, include reports and committee records from 2020.

A March 2020 report refers to el-Halabi as “the detainee in Zionist prisons” and states that Hamas monitoring and coordination “had a role in thwarting multiple schemes” to secure his conviction.

El-Halabi was arrested by Israel in June 2016 and convicted in June 2022 by the Beersheba District Court on multiple terror-related charges.

The court ruled that he diverted humanitarian funds to Hamas, supplied construction materials for military infrastructure, including tunnels, procured weapons, and collected intelligence.

He was released in February 2025 as part of an Israel-Hamas hostage and prisoner exchange.

Additional Hamas records cited by NGO Monitor describe efforts to prevent potential witnesses from testifying in Israel.

A March 3, 2020 report says a World Vision Gaza security official was detained for questioning after Hamas authorities learned he might testify.

An April 2020 internal protocol concluded that World Vision employees should be barred from exiting Gaza via the Beit Hanoun crossing to hinder court proceedings.

The Israeli verdict also referenced testimony from a World Vision accountant, Mohammed Mehdi, who warned the organization that el-Halabi was transferring funds to Hamas. Mehdi was later interrogated by Hamas and dismissed.

The court said his account aligned with the operational methods described in the indictment and noted that a copy of his Hamas interrogation was found on el-Halabi’s computer.

Throughout the trial, World Vision and allied organizations rejected the allegations, citing internal audits they said found no diversion of funds.

Amnesty International described el-Halabi as a “prisoner of conscience,” while senior figures in Australia criticized the conviction. European Union and United Nations officials also raised concerns about Israel’s judicial process during the case.

NGO Monitor President Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg said the newly disclosed documents undermine those defenses, arguing they show coordinated efforts to discredit Israel’s legal proceedings. He called on governments funding aid in Gaza to impose stronger oversight and transparency requirements.

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Gaza man who funneled money from Christian charity to Hamas terror organization sentenced by Israeli court to 12 years in prison.

By World Israel News Staff

A Gaza man who funneled millions of dollars in aid money to the Hamas terrorist organization was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday.

Mohammad El Halabi, manager of Gaza operations for the World Vision charity, was sentenced at the Beersheba District Court in southern Israel Tuesday morning, more than two months after the court convicted him on terror financing charges.

El Halabi faced a maximum sentence of over 20 years in prison, but will now serve roughly six years, having already been incarcerated during his trial for the past six years.

During his tenure at the helm of World Vision’s Gaza relief work operations, Israeli investigators said, a massive $49-million disparity opened between the U.S. based organization’s funding for the Gaza branch and the receipts posted by the program.

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency later found evidence El Halabi had diverted the funds and materials, which were earmarked for relief efforts and aid for reconstruction in Gaza, to Hamas.

The Gaza-based terror group in turn used the money to acquire weapons. Equipment and raw materials funneled to Hamas were used to construct tunnels in the coastal enclave.

In their verdict in June, the judges wrote that while they accepted World Vision’s claim that it believes El Halabi to be innocent, it is clear he met repeatedly with Hamas terrorists during his employment with World Vision and that he discussed their needs during the meetings.

The court also wrote that El Halabi visited Hamas terror tunnels on multiple occasions, with at least two such visits in 2012. In one such instance, El Halabi gave a Hamas terrorist $20,000 to repair flood damage the tunnel had sustained.

While El Halabi confessed to Israeli investigators, his attorney, Maher Hana, claimed the confession had been forced and vowed to appeal the conviction to the Supreme Court.

The Beersheba court did acquit El Halabi of one charge from the indictment – aiding an enemy power – noting that El Halabi is a resident of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and does not carry Israeli citizenship.

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NGO Monitor said it had tracked inconsistencies in World Vision’s records, noting disparities in reports filed by regional branches.

By World Israel News Staff

An Israeli court on Wednesday convicted a Gaza aid worker of funneling money to the Hamas terrorist organization.

The Beersheba District Court found Mohammed El Halabi guilty Wednesday afternoon of diverting international aid earmarked for Gazans via the World Vision organization to the Hamas terrorist group.

El Halabi was serving as the manager of World Vision’s operations in the Gaza Strip when he was arrested by Israeli authorities in June 2016 on suspicion of funding a terrorist organization.

Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency accused El Halabi of diverting some $50 million from the massive US-based Christian relief organization he worked for to Gaza-based terrorists, who used the funds to purchase weapons and build tunnels in the Gaza Strip.

Prosecutors accused El Halabi of using World Vision’s humanitarian projects and ties to agricultural associations to conceal his efforts to funnel aid money and building materials to Hamas.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry noted that World Vision has distanced itself from El Halabi, condemning terrorism and attempts to divert aid money.

The verdict was handed down following a May 9 order by the Supreme Court pressing the Beersheba court to conclude proceedings against El Halabi. Prior to Wednesday’s ruling, the Supreme Court was poised to holding hearings on whether further extensions on El Halabi’s arrest should be granted.

El Halabi has denied the charges against him, accusing Israeli authorities, including the Shin Bet, of targeting his work in an effort to delegitimize Palestinian Arab civil society.

The watchdog group NGO Monitor said Wednesday that it had tracked inconsistencies in World Vision’s records, noting disparities in reports filed by regional branches. A massive $49-million-dollar disparity was found, for instance, in the World Vision program for Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza, with $133 million earmarked by only $84 million in expenses.

Gerald Steinberg, the president of NGO Monitor, expressed satisfaction with Wednesday’s verdict, and called on aid groups to do more to ensure that their funds do not reach terrorist groups.

“The verdict is a reminder of the centrality of due diligence and credible oversight in the future to prevent the abuse of aid for terror in the region. To avoid enabling murderous Hamas attacks, which also compounds the suffering of Gaza residents, aid groups must implement rigorous vetting procedures, particularly regarding employees and their activities. If they cannot or will not do so, they should not be funneling more money into territory controlled by a terrorist entity, ” he said.

“While World Vision is currently the focus of attention following the conviction of El Halabi and the scale of the allegations, this should be a cautionary moment for the other international aid organizations operating in Gaza, such as Oxfam, Care, and Christian Aid, as well as UN agencies such as UNRWA and OCHA.”

“Any diversion of humanitarian funds for terrorist purposes is a reprehensible act committed at the expense of the welfare of the Palestinian residents of Gaza. Israel will continue to use the tools at its disposal to prevent such crimes, and to hold Hamas and other terrorist groups accountable for perpetrating them.,” Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said regarding the conviction.

“Israel takes note of World Vision’s statement following the judgment, including its condemnation of any act of terrorism or support for such activities, and its rejection of any attempt to divert humanitarian resources or exploit the work of humanitarian organizations.

“Israel acknowledges the importance of humanitarian work in Gaza and continues to support international efforts to provide assistance to the Gazan population. It values and remains committed to cooperating with, and facilitating, the continued operations of humanitarian organizations, including World Vision, in a manner consistent with security considerations and applicable standards,” the Ministry stated.

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A Middle East Forum investigation reveals that the Obama administration knowingly gave US aid money to an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Sudan that was sanctioned by the US for its support for terrorists, including Osama bin Laden and Hamas.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he cares more about the Palestinian Arabs than their own leaders do, and he does an excellent job of explaining why.

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