Israeli court adjourns Turkish charity hearing

A court in Beer Sheva adjourned the hearing involving a representative of Turkey’s TIKA aid agency on Tuesday, Anadolu has reported. The new hearing for Mohamed Murtaja will now be held on 8 May.

The Israeli authorities arrested Murtaja on 12 February at the Erez Crossing on his way from Gaza to receive training at TIKA’s head office in Turkey. He is accused of channelling funds to the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, alleges that he distributed aid to members of Hamas and its military wing to be used to produce weapons. Murtaja, who started working with TIKA in 2012, denies the Israeli allegations.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu responded to the Israeli claims by insisting that Murtaja is “innocent until proven guilty.” The government in Turkey is following the case closely, said Muftuoglu. He stressed that TIKA would continue to provide much-needed humanitarian support to the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories.