UNDP wants 'speedy justice' for official accused of helping Hamas

A United Nations Development Program contractor who is accused of aiding Hamas deserves a fair and speedy legal process, a UNDP representative in Jerusalem said Wednesday.

Israel on Tuesday accused Hamas, the terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip, of siphoning off U.N. aid meant for Palestinian civilians. It is the second allegation this month of misuse of international relief funds in Gaza.

Going public with the Julyarrestof Wahid Abdallah al Bursh, a Palestinian engineer with the UNDP, the Shin Bet security agency said he had confessed to being recruited in 2014 to help Hamas.


Video: Reuters

Among the assignments Bursh allegedly performed was assisting in building a maritime jetty for Hamas fighters using UNDP resources, the Shin Bet said Wednesday.

Israel informed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UNDP offices in New York of Bursh's arrest and indictment, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

UNDP Special Representative of the Administrator Roberto Valent told Reuters his organization is looking forward to the process of an open court.

"The contractor has been provided legal [re]presentation by the State of Israel. We as UNDP consider that the contractor has the right and deserves to have [a] fair and just and speedy justice process," Valent said after receiving the indictment for review.

"We are seriously looking at it; we are clearly concerned about it," Valent said. "But what we can tell you as UNDP is, that in no way whatsoever has UNDP provided any political group or entity with the ability to influence our decisions and to drive and manipulate our resources -- resources that indeed are stemming out of international taxpayers' money."

Israel said Bursh had also persuaded his UNDP superiors to prioritize the Gaza neighborhoods where Hamas operatives reside when earmarking funds for reconstruction in Gaza.

"This investigation proves yet again the way in which Hamas exploits aid resources of international groups in the Gaza Strip which are meant for the civilian population," the Shin Bet said. It said Bursh had been indicted in an Israeli court.

However, Valent said UNDP provides support to civilians and will continue to do so.

"We are providing livelihood support to tens of thousands of Gazans," he said. "We are rebuilding and rehabilitating more than 56 schools in non-refugee areas, and we are also rehabilitating and rebuilding seven universities, in addition to providing support to Gaza in so many ways, and this not something that will stop. We're determined to keep providing the support."

It was not immediately clear how Bursh would plead to the charges against him. Hamas dismissed the allegations as a bid by Israel, which along with neighboring Egypt blockades Gaza, to control the enclave.