An Israeli court has found Mohammed Halabi, a former head of World Vision's Gaza office, guilty of diverting charity funds to Hamas. The verdict, delivered at Beersheba District Court, ends a six-year detention for the aid worker, who was charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation and transferring 'considerable sums' to the militant group.
Israeli security officials originally alleged that Halabi had siphoned off up to $50m (£41.5m) of humanitarian donations to Hamas, claiming the money funded rockets and tunnels used against Israel. The case drew international attention, with World Vision and human rights groups questioning the evidence. World Vision stated there had been 'irregularities in the trial process and a lack of substantive, publicly available evidence'.
The charity commissioned an independent forensic audit by Deloitte and DLA Piper, which examined payments, 280,000 emails, and conducted dozens of interviews. The audit found no evidence of systematic diversion of funds. International human rights organisations described the verdict as 'a miscarriage of justice', noting key evidence was kept secret and that Halabi faced pressure to confess.
Halabi's colleagues rejected the portrayal of him as a militant. Conny Lenneburg, former head of World Vision's Middle East operations, described him as 'such a good man doing incredibly skilful work that made a real difference'. She highlighted his community-focused projects, such as requiring farmers to sell a quarter of their strawberry crop locally. The case has damaged World Vision's reputation, leading to funding freezes from major donors and the closure of its Gaza office.
