Israel accuses UN staff of assisting Hamas military wing

A Palestinian employee of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Gaza was charged Tuesday in an Israeli court for allegedly utilizing his position to assist Hamas' military wing.

Waheed Borsh, a 38-year-old engineer from the city of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip, was arrested on July 16.

Israel's Shin Bet security service said in a statement that Borsh used his position with the UNDP "to provide material assistance to Hamas' terrorist/military efforts."

In 2003, Borsh started working for the UNDP, one of the world's largest development and aid organization. He was in charge of demolishing homes that were damaged during the Israeli raids on the Palestinian enclave and clearing the rubbish from the sites.

According to the Shin Bet, during the investigation, "it was discovered that he had been instructed by a senior member of Hamas to redirect his work for UNDP to serve Hamas' military interests."

Borsh confessed that he carried out projects for Hamas, the Shin Bet said. "For example, last year he helped build a military jetty in the northern Gaza Strip - utilizing UNDP resources - to be used by Hamas' naval forces. Also in 2015, he acted to persuade UNDP managers to prioritize the rehabilitation of housing in areas populated by Hamas members," the statement read.

The indictment was the second time in less than a week that Israel accused a Palestinian worker of an international aid organization of helping Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which controls Gaza.

On Thursday, Israeli authorities said that the director of the Gaza office of World Vision, Mohammed El-Halabi, had admitted to funneling about 7.2 million U.S. dollars a year to Hamas over five years. According to the Shin Bet, that amounts to about 60 percent of World Vision's budget to Gaza.

U.S.-based World Vision rejected the allegation. "Based on the information available to us at this time, we have no reason to believe that the allegations are true," the group said in a statement.

According to World Vision, the charity's total budget in Gaza in the last ten years totaled 22.5 million dollars, less than the sum that Israel alleged to be siphoned to Hamas.

Hamas has been controlling the Gaza Strip since it won the 2006 election. Israel imposed a blockade on the strip in the wake of the takeover, allowing a restricted transfer of goods in and out of the Palestinian enclave and limiting most exits and enters of people. 

Source : XINHUA