George Galloway linked Gaza charity ‘may have delivered no aid’ despite significant donations

Watchdog finds ‘no evidence that...donated funds had been spent on their intended purpose’

(PA)

A charity which pledged to provide humanitarian help to Palestine and is fronted by George Galloway may not have delivered any aid to the region, according to a damning new report.

The Charity Commission said there was “little if any evidence that humanitarian aid was distributed to those in need” by Viva Palestina, an aid group, following a decade of probes into the organisation.

Investigators found that “significant cash donations were received by the charity via direct bank transfer”.

But in its latest findings the department said it “saw no evidence that these donated funds had been spent on their intended purpose”.

The inquiry into Viva Palestina and its trustees also found that the charity failed to maintain records of donated assets.

A previous inquiry found that the group raised £180,000 for Gaza but misled the public by claiming it raised donations of £1m.

It is unclear if the £180,000 was spent on any aid delivered to Palestinians.

Viva Palestina was founded in early 2009 by Sabah Al-Mukhtar, according to The Jewish Chronicle.

Mr Al-Mukthar protested the group coming under the Charity Commission’s jurisdiction. The aid group was not initially registered as a charity but was later required to by the department.

“Based on the media fundraising campaign the Commission formed the view that it was a charity and should be registered,” a spokesperson said.

Mr Al-Mukthar later resigned as a trustee.

Mr Galloway is not a Viva Palestina trustee but did travel to Gaza with the group’s aid convoy in 2009.

The Charity Commission previously investigated and cleared Viva Palestine of providing aid directly to Hamas, the militant group which controls Gaza.

But Mr Galloway did donate £25,000 to Hamas in a personal capacity. Those funds were not from Viva Palestina.

In addition, Mr Galloway reportedly donated a fleet of vehicles to the charity’s convoy, according to the BBC.

The 64-year-old disputed the inquiry’s latest findings on Twitter.

“Arriving in Gaza 2009 with hundreds of vehicles with “no aid” in them!” Mr Galloway wrote online, in a series of mocking tweets.

“Later I would hand bundles of fresh air “to Hamas”. Quite a triumph actually.”

“The same journalists who denounced me for years for “delivering aid to Hamas” and tried to have me punished for it now say there was “no aid” at all,” Mr Galloway added.

“The 500 trucks crossing the deserts of Arabia to Gaza were a mirage and were empty and dissolved in any case on our departure.”

The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Viva Palestina on 23 March 2009.

In its report the department said it did so after exhausting “all reasonable methods of dialogue with the charity”.

Viva Palestina’s trustees also failed to provide any accounts for the commission’s inquiry, in a breach of charity law.

The Commission found the charity inadequately maintained personnel records, had no employment contracts and that trustees failed to ”properly manage and administer their charity”.

Viva Palestina was struck off the charities register in 2016.