Hidden World Vision aid funds fuel claims former exec funnelled money to Hamas

Millions of dollars spent by World Vision Australia in Gaza and the West Bank are almost entirely hidden from scrutiny.

Former Gaza head of World Vision Mohammad El Halabi.

Millions of dollars spent by World Vision Australia each year in Gaza and the West Bank — much of it federal government cash — are almost entirely hidden from public scrutiny, which has added fuel to claims a former executive there funnelled millions to the Hamas terrorist group.

In a global first, World Vision’s international head office has agreed to share with The Australian some of those internal financial records in a bid to shed light on its operations in the Palestinian territories, as its former Gaza head Mohammad El Halabi faces an Israeli court early next month over the alleged fraud.

Mr Halabi was arrested in June by Israeli authorities who ­alleged he had siphoned $US43 million over the past six years to the military arm of Hamas, the proscribed terrorist group which administers Gaza.

The issue is particularly relevant locally because World ­Vision Australia has been the biggest funder to the World Vision’s operations in the Palestinian territories since Mr Halabi became the charity’s Gaza head in 2010.

World Vision has expressed “shock” at the allegations but has said it has no reason to believe they are true. World Vision ­Australia head Tim Costello has dismissed the claims, stating the charity’s entire budget for Gaza for the period was less than the ­alleged amount pilfered.

The Australian has sought to investigate the cash flows from World Vision Australia to World Vision in Gaza, and examine how World Vision spends money in the West Bank and Gaza. But public information is almost non-existent. World Vision Australia publishes only a single figure for the total amount of money it sends to World Vision Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza each year while World Vision Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza provides no public breakdown of spending.

According to internal documents provided to The Australian by World Vision, the charity spent $US37.37m in Gaza ­between 2007 and June 2016 — and $US2.62m on “shared” ­expenses between Gaza and the West Bank — supporting Mr Costello’s claims Mr Halabi could not have siphoned $US43m.

The documents further shed light on World Vision’s disbursements in the region. However, the detail remains very limited.

The accounts also show ­during that 10-year period World Vision spent $US11.1m on “emergency response” funding in Gaza, largely during times of conflict between Gaza and Israel.

Jerusalem-based advocacy group NGO Monitor has long called on World Vision to release information about where it spends its money in the region, raising concerns it could be used for nefarious activities if not properly scrutinised.

The Australian government was unable to provide The Australian with any information about where taxpayer dollars were spent in the region via World ­Vision, other than to provide total figures for its annual spend.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade suspended all such funding after Mr Halabi was charged and said it was conducting an investigation. It declined to comment yesterday.