Israel arrests Palestinian UN employee accused of using position to support Hamas

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Israel says it has arrested a Palestinian employee of the United Nations in Gaza, accusing him of using his position to support Islamist militant group Hamas.

Israeli security agency Shin Bet said Waheed Borsh, 38, was indicted on Tuesday. Mr Borsh has worked for the UN development agency UNDP in the Gaza Strip since 2003.

He allegedly confessed to using UNDP resources to build a jetty for Hamas' naval forces, according to Shin Bet.

The agency also claimed he persuaded his managers to prioritise the reconstruction of houses damaged in conflicts with Israel in areas where Hamas members lived.

Last week, Israel indicted a senior Palestinian manager with the US-based charity World Vision on charges of funnelling millions of dollars to Hamas in Gaza.

The suspect, Mohammed el-Halabi, denied the charges, as did Hamas, while World Vision said it had yet to see evidence to back up Israel's allegations.

World Vision Germany spokeswoman Silvia Holten said the charity's budget in Gaza in the last decade totaled $22.5 million (£17.34 million). She said World Vision has stopped its Gaza operations while investigations continue.

"There is a huge gap in these numbers the Israeli government is telling and what we know," Ms Holten said.

Germany and Australia suspended donations to World Vision in Gaza amid the allegations.

It is not immediately clear how Mr Bursh will plead to the charges against him. The UNDP was unavailable for comment.

"These (allegations) are par for the course of an Israeli plot to restrict the work of international relief agencies operating in Gaza in order to tighten the Gaza blockade," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

Israel informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office and the UNDP director in New York of Mr Bursh's arrest and details from his indictment, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman said Israel expected UN condemnation of Hamas' alleged use of the Gaza aid system and that the relevant agencies "will take concrete measures to ensure that humanitarian activities actually assist those in need in Gaza".

Responding on Monday to the Israeli indictment against Mr Halabi, the U.N. Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Robert Piper, called for a fair and transparent trial.

"If proven by a due legal process, these actions deserve unreserved condemnation; Gaza's demoralized and vulnerable citizens deserve so much better," he said in a statement.

But World Vision was sceptical at the Shin Bet's allegation that Mr Halabi had siphoned off about $7.2 million a year in charity money for Hamas since 2010. The indictment filed against Halabi speaks more generally of "millions of dollars".

"World Vision's cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past ten years was approximately $22.5 million, which makes the alleged amount of up to $50 million being diverted hard to reconcile," charity president Kevin Jenkins said in a statement.

Additional reporting by agencies