Israel’s Beersheba court sentenced the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency’s (TIKA) representative in the blockaded Gaza Strip prisoner Mohammad Mortaji to nine years in prison.
The court issued the sentence based on charges that he transferred donations from a Turkish relief organization to the Palestinian Hamas movement.
The court convicted him of “supporting and financing terrorism.”
Israeli forces had detained Mortaji at the Beit Hanoun checkpoint in northern Gaza in February 2017.
A month later, the Israeli Shin Bet security agency indicted Mortaji for actively working with Hamas’ armed wing, the Izzeddine al-Qassam Brigades, “communicating with foreign spies and conspiring with intentions to harm state security.”
Mortaji has denied the charges and his defense team asserted that his work is restricted to humanitarian projects.
He claimed that he served the needy and no one else.
His trial is part of Israel's persistent pressure on international institutions and organizations that have been carrying out relief activities in Gaza since 2006, under the pretext that they “help Hamas."
On July 9, Israeli authorities decided to limit TIKA’s activities in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
Founded in 1992, TIKA is a major sponsor and coordinator of many charitable projects funded by Turkey in different parts of the world.
