UN experts call on Israel to release World Vision ex-Gaza chief

The conviction last year and imprisonment of the former Gaza head of a major US-based aid agency violates international law, UN rights experts claim, demanding that Israel release him immediately.

The four independent experts describe the proceedings leading to World Vision’s Mohammed el-Halabi’s conviction last year as “deeply flawed” and argue that the verdict and his lengthy prison sentence are “egregious violations of the right to a fair trial.”

El-Halabi was sentenced to 12 years behind bars in August 2022, after being convicted of funneling millions of dollars and tons of steel to the Hamas terror group, which has controlled the Palestinian enclave since it took over in 2007 in a bloody coup.

El-Halabi, who was arrested in June 2016 and indicted in August that year, has denied any irregularities, and an audit ordered by World Vision found no evidence he had diverted any charity funds.

The UN experts, including the Special Rapporteurs on the rights situation in Gaza and on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, point to “the lack of evidence against him presented in open court.”

They also highlight “the extensive use of secret evidence, closed-door hearings, restricted communication with his lawyer, severe restrictions on the lawyer for the preparation of his defense and the failure to try him without undue delay.”