World Vision whistleblowers interrogated by Hamas to obstruct trial
Internal Hamas documents show the militant group has surveilled and interrogated World Vision staff and suspected whistleblowers, sharpening scrutiny of Australian-funded aid programs in the region as part of a coordinated effort to thwart the Israeli terrorism case involving the aid agency’s former Gaza administrator.
Documents seized by the Israel Defense Forces over the past two years highlight the process by which Hamas closely monitored lengthy closed-door hearings in Israeli courts, identified and questioned suspicious leaks in Gaza, and took action to prevent potential witnesses from reaching Israel to testify.
Multiple reports appearing in this byline, written by Hamas’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Security, allege that World Vision’s former Gaza director, Mohammed al-Halabi, used his senior role within the international aid agency while secretly working for Hamas, and that the banned group considered his exposure a major internal security blunder.
Halabi was arrested by Israel in June 2016 and convicted in 2022 of diverting millions in humanitarian aid and supplies to Hamas. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison as part of a prisoner-hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas and was released in February 2025.
At the time the case was filed, World Vision was one of the Australian government’s largest aid partners in the Palestinian territories, receiving millions of dollars in donations every year.
The aid worker’s prolonged detention, combined with little publicly disclosed evidence of his guilt, led to international condemnation of the Israeli justice system.
A document dated March 11, 2020, written by Hamas’ counter-espionage branch and submitted to the division director, states: “the above-mentioned [Halabi] was in contact with [only a] very few sister parties are positive [a term for Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades]” – or members of Hamas’ military wing – and describes urgent efforts to determine how Israeli authorities uncovered its activities.
Reports indicate that Hamas assumed the key witness against Halabi came from World Vision’s Gaza office. One report states that “the names of all employees working at the association were detailed” and checked against Hamas’ security databases.
Jerusalem-based research institute NGO Monitor was granted access to documents removed from Gaza and declassified by the IDF.
The earlier publication of the so-called Hamas documents became controversial after the investigation carried out by the Israel Defense Forces revealed that some files leaked to foreign media were faked by Hamas in order to shape public opinion about Israel.
The investigation sparked outrage within Israel’s security establishment by raising concerns that classified materials seized in Gaza (or simply documents purportedly from Hamas) were being manipulated and presented to international organizations to influence debate.
The IDF confirmed the legitimacy of the documents on this imprint, which were subsequently translated by NGO Monitor and independently checked by this imprint. Various attempts have been made to verify these through Hamas’ legal representation in Australia and Europe.
NGO MonitorHe has been under harsh criticism for many years from international aid groups for his privately funded investigations into aid efforts in Gaza, which have denigrated human rights organizations critical of the Israeli occupation.
Another document, dated March 3, 2020 and submitted to the director of Hamas’ foreign activities division, shows that Hamas officials ordered the interrogation of World Vision staff suspected of collaborating with Israeli authorities, and that aid workers were placed under surveillance and their movements restricted.
Hamas was warned that a World Vision employee was asked to testify in an Israeli court. The documents state that the employee was questioned by Hamas officials and then ordered that World Vision staff be prevented from leaving Gaza through the Beit Hanoun crossing point to prevent him from testifying.
The documents also reveal that Hamas had a source who attended closed-door hearings in Israel in November 2019 and later briefed officials in Gaza about what was happening.
One of the focuses of Hamas’s internal investigation was World Vision accountant Mohammed Mahdi, who was later identified as a whistleblower in Israeli court findings. According to Israel’s 2022 ruling, the accountant reported that Halabi diverted World Vision funds to Hamas using consistent methods over several years. The judges found his account was supported by other evidence.
Hamas documents state that the accountant was among those questioned by Hamas. Israeli judges stated that a copy of this interrogation was later found on Halabi’s personal computer and seized by Israeli security officials.
Halabi’s lawyers said that the latest allegations were “completely unfounded and fabricated”.
When asked about the documents, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that funding for World Vision’s activities in the Palestinian Territories was suspended in August 2016.
The review found “nothing to suggest that government funds were being diverted”, but DFAT confirmed that the review only covered information it had about the management of Australian finances.
World Vision Australia has received $39.9 million from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2022-23.
Much of the evidence used to incriminate Halabi remains secret, as does the 254-page decision of the Beersheba District Court. The summary version released to the press at the time relied heavily on Halabi’s confessions to Shin Bet security agents, which he later retracted.
Halabi consistently denies the accusations and accuses the prosecution and Shin Bet of fabricating them, forcing confessions and prolonging the case to undermine humanitarian organizations in Gaza.
In its decision, the Israeli Beersheba District Court found Halabi guilty of directing humanitarian aid and construction materials to Hamas, providing materials for tunnels, recruiting Hamas members, supplying weapons and manipulating World Vision tenders.
The court found that the “majority” of food and hygiene packages funded by World Vision were regularly distributed to Hamas military officers, including during periods of armed conflict. Judges said Halabi met with Hamas military officers during his World Vision mission to meet their needs.
World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello later called it “a travesty of justice” during the verdict. Costello said last year that he was “burst into tears” when he learned Halabi would be released as part of a swap for Israeli hostages.
“I know Muhammad. I know that he is an innocent man who spent 8.5 years in prison,” he said.
Costello declined to comment on the documents when contacted by this imprint.
Responding to questions about the documents, World Vision said it condemned “any diversion of aid funds”, “any act of terrorism or support for such activities” and reiterated its claim that multiple reviews had found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Human rights groups say Halabi was not allowed a fair and transparent trial because he and World Vision had no chance to examine the evidence against them, and all procedures were shielded from the public and shrouded in secrecy.
In his statement to the local press upon his release, Halabi said that he was detained “only because we were providing aid and aid to the people of Gaza.”
“But they [Israeli authorities] “They act like a gang, they have no evidence, they convicted me without evidence and told the world they had a secret file but it didn’t exist.”
Israel attributed the closed hearings to sensitive security information.
World Vision Australia said it had “seen nothing” following the 2022 conviction that would make it question the conclusion that Halabi was innocent. He argued that Gaza programs were subject to regular audits and internal controls and that he had seen no credible evidence of aid diversion.
Audits by Germany and the U.S. Agency for International Development also did not show irregularities in the distribution of funds donated to the nonprofit.
Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, said the Hamas documents clearly showed that World Vision Australia leaders’ attacks on the Israeli justice system were “part of a fabricated smear campaign”.
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Rob Harris is a national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Canberra. He is a former European correspondent.Connect via email.
