Human Rights Watch has called on Israel to immediately release Muhammad al-Halabi, an aid worker from Gaza who has been detained for nearly six years before and during his trial.
On February 17, 2022, the Israeli Supreme Court renewed Al-Halabi’s detention for 90 days, which is his 23rd renewal.
The Israeli public prosecutor accused al-Halabi, 45, who is the director of the Christian charity World Vision’s office in Gaza, of transferring tens of millions of dollars to Palestinian armed groups.
But after more than 160 hearings, the court has yet to convict him. The trial was marred by serious due process violations, including the concealment of much of the supposed evidence against him. An audit of donor governments and independent companies used by World Vision found no irregularities.
“Detaining a person in pretrial detention for nearly six years based on secret evidence makes a mockery of due process and the most basic notions of a fair trial,” said Omar Shakir, director of the Israel and Palestine division at Human Rights Watch. Oftentimes, government policy violates the rights of Palestinians.
Since al-Halabi’s prolonged detention before and during proceedings severely violates “reasonable time” trial guarantees set out in international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said.
Al-Halabi, a father of five, was arrested by the Israeli authorities in June 2016 at the Erez/Beit Hanoun crossing between Gaza and Israel, while returning from a meeting at the World Vision office in Jerusalem. Al-Halabi’s whereabouts were not announced for weeks. In July 2016, the Israeli authorities raided the World Vision office in Jerusalem.
On August 4, 2016, the Israeli authorities announced that al-Halabi had admitted transferring up to $50 million to Hamas, some of which was earmarked for armed activities. These allegations, which were referred to by then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and made headlines globally, prompted major donors – including the Australian and German governments – to freeze their funding for World Vision projects in Gaza, and prompted World Vision – which operates in 100 countries – to suspend its work in Gaza. , which included education and health care programs, and canceled contracts for 120 employees.
The work of World Vision in Gaza is still suspended. In addition, in late 2021, the Israeli authorities designated 6 prominent Palestinian civil society organizations as “terrorist” and “illegal,” based on supposed secret “evidence,” allowing for the closure of their offices, the seizure of their assets, and the imprisonment of their employees and supporters.
Since 2016, Al-Halabi and World Vision have denied the accusations against them, and World Vision said its budget for Gaza for 10 years was only $22.5 million. According to an August 2021 investigation in the Guardian newspaper, a forensic audit of the World Vision program in Gaza by Deloitte auditing firm and US law firm DLA Piper found no missing funds, criminal activity, or evidence that Al-Halabi worked for Hamas. The Australian government also reviewed its funding for World Vision in Gaza, which represented more than 25% of the organization’s budget there between 2014 and 2016, and found that “nothing indicates any transfer of government funds.”
The Israeli Public Prosecution accused Al-Halabi, who resides in Gaza, of committing multiple crimes, including belonging to Hamas and its military wing and supporting their activities, and most seriously, it accused him of “aiding an enemy in war”, a charge that falls under the “treason” clause in the Israeli Penal Code.
After several closed sessions, al-Halabi made his first public appearance in January 2017 in the Beersheba court, where he alleged that he had been subjected to “physical and psychological torture.”
