World Vision manager in Gaza funneled money to Hamas, Israel says

JERUSALEM — Israel’s internal security agency said Thursday it has arrested a senior employee of the international aid group World Vision in the Gaza Strip, accusing him of siphoning millions of dollars of the charity’s funds and transferring them to the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Mohammed el-Halabi established a “systematic and sophisticated mechanism” to divert up to $50 million over the years to the militant group, which rules Gaza, creating fictitious humanitarian projects and doctoring inflated receipts in order to get the funds to Hamas, said the Shin Bet.