A humanitarian aid worker in Gaza has been arrested and charged with using his position to provide material assistance to Hamas’ terrorist/military efforts. This is the second such indictment of a Palestinian aid worker in Gaza in less than a week.

Waheed Borsh was arrested on 10 Tammuz by the Israel Police and Shin Bet agents and indicted in a civilian court in southern Israel on Tuesday, 5 Menachem Av. He was charged with assisting Hamas, an internationally-recognized Islamist terrorist organization.

Borsh, from Jabalya in Gaza has worked for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Gaza as an engineer since 2003. His areas of responsibility include demolishing houses damaged during armed conflicts and clearing the rubbish from sites after demolition.

The UNDP, an agency of the UN, is one of the world’s largest multilateral development agencies. It conducts development and rehabilitation projects for the Palestinian population of t Gaza, which include assisting in the rehabilitation of housing damaged during armed conflicts.

During the Waheed Borsh investigation, it was discovered that he had been instructed by a senior member of the Hamas terrorist organization to redirect his work for UNDP to serve Hamas’ military interests.

Borsh confessed that he did indeed carry out activities that aided Hamas. For example, last year he helped build a military jetty in northern Gaza – utilizing UNDP resources – to be used by Hamas’ naval forces.

Also in 2015, he acted to persuade UNDP managers to prioritize the rehabilitation of housing in areas populated by Hamas members. Borsh was acting in response to a request by Hamas.

Additionally, Borsh disclosed information regarding cases in which Hamas would blatantly and aggressively exploit UNDP humanitarian activities for its own purposes. For example, when weapons or terrorist tunnel openings were discovered in houses being handled by the UNDP, Hamas would take control of the site and confiscate the arms and other materials. This violates clear UN procedures according to which UNMAS is supposed to be immediately notified as the United Nations Mine Action Service is the UN body in charge of dealing, inter alia, with explosive remnants of war. Borsh also disclosed information on Hamas tunnels and military bases which he had been exposed to during his work in Gaza.

Notably, according to Borsh, other Palestinians who work for aid organizations are also working for Hamas.

This case – along with last week’s case in which Hamas operative Mohammed El-Halabi infiltrated the World Vision humanitarian aid NGO in order to divert funds and other resources for use in Hamas’ military/terrorist efforts – demonstrates how Hamas exploits the resources of international aid organizations at the expense of the civilian population of Gaza.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo: Shin Bet Spokesman Unit)