Serious allegations against local employees of the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) have led to the immediate dismissal of an unspecified number of workers – a dozen, according to the US – who were allegedly involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks are supposed to be the Gaza war. The Agency is investigating allegations by Israeli authorities that led to an immediate suspension of US funding to the Agency, amid a humanitarian crisis and a time when more than two million Gazans are in need of the Agency's assistance are dependent. Survive. The case under investigation fuels Israel's condemnation of the international organization, which has been heavily questioned since the start of the war.
“The Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the suspected involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific October 7 attacks in Israel,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner general. “To ensure the agency’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance, I have decided to immediately terminate the contracts of these employees and launch an investigation to immediately find out the truth. “Any UNRWA staff involved in terrorist attacks will be held accountable, including through criminal proceedings.” Almost all UNRWA staff are locals.
After emphasizing that the agency he heads “strongly condemns the heinous attacks of October 7” and called for the “immediate and unconditional release of all Israeli hostages,” Lazzarini describes the Israeli accusations as frightening because they undermine the values of the Israeli government Country betrayed UN and also to those who fulfill the mission of the organization. “These shocking allegations come as more than two million people in Gaza rely on the life-saving assistance the organization has provided since the start of the war. “Anyone who betrays the core values of the United Nations also betrays those we serve in Gaza, throughout the region and in other parts of the world.”
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, was informed by Lazzarini of “the very serious allegations” implicating several employees of the organization in the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. “The Secretary-General is appalled by this news and has asked Mr. Lazzarini to expeditiously investigate the matter and ensure that any UNRWA staff member found to have participated in or instigated the events of October 7th committed any other criminal activity, will be immediately dismissed and expelled for possible criminal prosecution. “An urgent and comprehensive independent review of UNRWA is being carried out,” Guterres spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in New York.
The United States, Israel's main ally, has taken unilateral action and announced the immediate suspension of its funding to the agency for the duration of the investigation. “The United States is extremely concerned about allegations that 12 UNRWA personnel may have been involved in the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on October 7,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. The United States was the agency's top donor in 2023, so the withdrawal of funds could be a major blow to its operations amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
According to the spokesman, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already contacted Guterres to “emphasize the need for a rapid and comprehensive investigation,” as the top UN official promised in his office. First reaction to the announcement. The US government praised the speed of its response and its promise to “take strong action if the allegations are true.”
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In the spotlight
The United Nations has been in the crosshairs of Israeli diplomacy since Guterres, in a speech, attributed the ongoing war to, among other things, the decades-long occupation. “This war did not arise out of nothing,” the U.N. official said in a late October speech in which the Israeli government called for his resignation and in which Guterres later reiterated his stance. In December, Israel accused him of supporting the abduction of children and the rape of women because he pushed for a ceasefire in Gaza. In addition, the issuance or renewal of visas for employees of the organization, including some managers, was blocked.
UNRWA is not the only organization in question; The World Health Organization (WHO) is also plagued by allegations of collusion with Hamas. Its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, accused the Israeli government this Friday of filing “false complaints” against the agency that could even “endanger” its employees, a day after an Israeli representative publicly distorted the organization's alleged “collusion.” had Hamas.
UNRWA is the United Nations relief agency for Palestine refugees in the Middle East. The United Nations General Assembly established it in 1949 with a mandate to, in theory, provide temporary humanitarian assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees “pending a just and lasting solution to their situation,” which was never achieved. It is present in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
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