GAZA (PIC)– Hamas and UNDP denied Israeli charges against a Palestinian employee of the United Nations agency accusing him of providing “material assistance” to Hamas.
According to a statement released on Tuesday by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) 38-year-old engineer Waheed al-Barsh was arrested on July 16 and charged in a Beersheva court on Tuesday.
The indictment accused the UN Development Programme (UNDP) staffer al-Barsh of abusing his position to renovate Hamas members’ homes having been recruited by “a senior member of the Hamas organization to redirect his work for UNDP to serve Hamas’ military interests”.
The ISA claimed that al-Barsh had confessed to the charges and admitted that “other Palestinians who work for aid organizations are also working for Hamas”.
Hamas vehemently rejected the Israeli allegations describing the claims as a “scheme to tighten the 10-year-old siege on the Gaza Strip” by “undermining the flow of funds for aid agencies and by going after international charities working in Gaza.”
For its part UNDP said in a statement that on 03 July 2016 Mr. Waheed al-Barsh a contractor of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was detained at Israeli passport control while entering Gaza through the Erez crossing.
“It is alleged by the Israeli authorities that Mr. Al Bursh complied with a request from a senior Hamas individual to transport 300 tons of rubble from a UNDP rubble removal project site to a Hamas-run location at the Northern Gaza Hamas-operated port” the statement read.
According to UNDP al-Bursh is a contractor who has been providing professional services within the rubble removal project which was established to respond to the consequences of the 2014 hostilities in Gaza.
“Through this project UNDP has removed more than one million tons of rubble as well as 2761 unexploded ordnances” it added.
“The allegations concerning Mr. al-Barsh by the Israeli occupation authorities refer to 300 tons of the more than one million tons removed or 7 truckloads out of a total of nearly 26000” UNDP stated.
“UNDP would like to reassure its partners donors and stakeholders that it has robust measures in place to ensure that the rubble which is removed and crushed goes to its intended purpose and has been transferred to specific locations with the request and approval of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing” the agency further noted.
“UNDP is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. . . . UNDP stands behind the professional work of its staff and personnel specifically in areas as complex and challenging as the rubble removal project where the risk of endangering civilians and staff is high if strict measures and operating procedures are not adequately followed” the statement further read.
“The rubble removal project is considered essential for the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza following the conflict” said the agency.
“Mr. al-Barsh should be accorded all due legal process and has the right to a fair trial” UNDP concluded.
Al-Barsh’s family also denied the Israeli allegations saying the engineer has always abided by the UNDP instructions and regulations.
On Thursday Israel also announced that Muhammad al-Halabi the head of the Gaza office of Christian NGO World Vision who was detained at a border crossing in June was being charged with siphoning funds from the organization to Hamas which both Hamas and World Vision firmly denied.
