The Media Line: Hamas Internal Documents Reveal Coordination with World Vision’s el-Halabi and Efforts to Obstruct Israeli Trial  

Hamas Internal Documents Reveal Coordination with World Vision’s el-Halabi and Efforts to Obstruct Israeli Trial  

By The Media Line Staff  

Internal Hamas documents show the terror group coordinated with former World Vision Gaza director Mohammed el-Halabi and worked to obstruct his Israeli trial, according to newly analyzed materials published by NGO Monitor.  

El-Halabi, arrested in June 2016, was convicted by the Beersheba District Court in June 2022 on multiple terror-related charges, including diverting humanitarian resources to Hamas, supplying construction materials for military infrastructure such as tunnels, procuring weapons and collecting intelligence. He was released in February 2025 as part of an Israel-Hamas hostage and prisoner exchange.  

The newly disclosed documents, retrieved from Hamas’ Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza, include a March 2020 report referring to “The detainee in Zionist prisons Mohammed Khalil Mohammed el-Halabi.” The report states that “Our monitoring and coordination with all relevant parties in the case had a role in thwarting multiple schemes to bring about the conviction of Mohammed Al-Halabi.”  

Other internal records detail Hamas efforts to identify suspected “leakers” and to prevent potential witnesses from traveling through the Beit Hanoun crossing to testify in Israel. A March 3, 2020 report indicates that a World Vision Gaza security official was detained for questioning after authorities learned he might testify in court. An April 2020 committee protocol concludes that World Vision employees would be barred from exiting through the crossing in order to hamper proceedings.  

According to the Israeli verdict, a World Vision accountant, Mohammed Mehdi, alerted the organization that el-Halabi was channeling funds to Hamas. Mehdi was later interrogated by Hamas and dismissed. The court noted that his allegations matched the operational methods described in the indictment and that a copy of his Hamas interrogation was found on el-Halabi’s computer.  

For years, World Vision and allied organizations rejected the charges. World Vision officials said internal audits found no evidence of diversion. Amnesty International labeled el-Halabi a “prisoner of conscience,” and senior figures in Australia described the conviction as unjust. EU and UN officials criticized Israel’s judicial process during the trial.  

NGO Monitor President Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg said, “The Hamas documents clearly demonstrate that attacks on the Israeli justice system from the leaders of World Vision Australia were part of a fabricated smear campaign,” adding that governments funding Gaza aid should implement stronger oversight and transparency measures.