Israeli court convicts Turkish aid agency employee

By Esat Firat

BEERSHEBA, Israel (AA) - An Israeli court sentenced a Palestian worker of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) to nine years in prison on Sunday.

Mohamed Murtaja was TIKA representative in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

He was convicted over six different charges like being member of Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and siphoning financial resources to Hamas.

Khaled Zabarka, Murtaja's lawyer told Anadolu Agency that the prison sentence is a "political" decision and Israel targets humanitarian aid institutions in Gaza Strip.

"Israel is very openly targeting Turkey's activities in Gaza and Palestine and giving a message to Turkey over Murtaja," Zabarka said.

Murtaja has been in Israeli custody since Feb. 12, 2017.

Married with four children, Murtaja has worked for TIKA in Gaza since 2012.

In recent years, aid workers in Gaza have faced mounting Israeli pressure, often being accused of aiding Hamas.

Wahid Burash, a UN-employed Palestinian, was sentenced to seven months in jail last year by an Israeli court for allegedly aiding the Gaza-based resistance group.

In 2016, B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization that documents military violations in the West Bank, was accused of “treason” by the Israeli authorities.

Additionally, Israeli lawmakers had also voted in favor of legislation that would ban activists calling for a boycott on Israeli products from entering the country.