Members of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees are alleged to have committed heinous acts against Israelis during the Hamas October 7 terror attacks as the US and several other nations cut funding.
The damning accusations say the UNRWA employees did everything from a school counselor who allegedly helped kidnapp a woman, others who gave out ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades and another that supposedly took part in a kibbutz slaughter that killed 97 people
The allegations come from dossier given to the United States by Israeli intelligence which American officials called ‘credible enough’ to justify defunding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Israel vowed on Saturday to ban the UN aid agency from operating in Gaza after the war ends.
Bosses have begged the West to restore funding following the sacking of staff accused of involvement in the October 7 attack.
Members of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees are alleged to have committed heinous acts against Israelis during the Hamas October 7 terror attacks as the US and several other nations cut funding
The dossier was initially put together after Israeli intelligence was able to track the movements of a dozen men inside Israel on the day of the Hamas attack from personal phone records and phone calls made discussing the brutal siege, according to the New York Times.
At least three of them were allegedly told via text message to report to evacuation locations on that day, with at least one told to bring along RPGs that he kept as his house, the dossier says.
The agents accused of taking part in the attacks are listed by name and contains a full description of their alleged behavior that day. They have yet to be identified by the media.
The Israelis described 10 of the employees as members of Hamas, the militant group that controlled Gaza at the time of the Oct. 7 attack. Another was said to be affiliated with another militant group, Islamic Jihad.
Yet seven of the accused were also said to be teachers at UNRWA schools, instructing students in subjects like math and Arabic. Two others worked at the schools in other capacities. The remaining three were described as a clerk, a social worker and the storeroom manager.
The US Department of State said it was ‘extremely troubled’ by the claims and called for ‘complete accountability’ for those involved in the October 7 attacks.
Donors including Germany, Britain, Italy, and Finland have also followed the lead of the United States, which said on Friday it had ‘temporarily paused additional funding’ to the agency while it reviewed the claims as well as the UN’s plan to address concerns.
‘In Gaza’s rebuilding, UNRWA must be replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development,’ Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, urging more donors to suspend funding.
The UNRWA said Sunday it had fired nine employees over Israel’s accusations, while two others have since died.
The organization is promising a thorough investigation into the claims, even before the explosive nature of the allegations was revealed.
The UK’s Foreign Office also announced on Saturday it would halt future funding of the UNRWA pending a review of the ‘concerning allegations’.
A statement from the Foreign Office said it was ‘appalled’ by the allegations but remained ‘committed’ to getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.
On Saturday, Hamas slammed Israeli ‘threats’ against the UNRWA, urging the United Nations and other international organisations not to ‘cave in to the threats and blackmail’.
An aerial view of destroyed buildings as a result of the Israeli attack on Nuseirat refugee camp, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on January 26
An aerial view of the tents where Palestinians are trying to survive in difficult conditions after fleeing their homes for safety in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on January 27
Internally displaced Palestinians move past Israeli tanks after the Israeli army told residents of Khan Yunis camp to leave their homes and head towards Rafah camps near the Egyptian border, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 27
Damage to their homes caused by Israeli air strikes, in Rafah, Gaza, on January 27
People walk on a damaged road filled with rainwater amid Israeli attacks on Gaza, on January 27
Displaced Palestinians walk past Israeli tanks after the IDF asked residents of Khan Yunis camp to leave their homes and go to Rafah camps near the Egyptian border, south of the Gaza Strip, on January 26
Palestinians fleeing Khan Younis move towards Rafah amid the ongoing conflict, on January 27
Relations between Israel and the UNRWA, which have been strained for years, deteriorated further in recent days, with the UN agency condemning tank shelling it said had hit a shelter for displaced people in Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Yunis.
The agency said tens of thousands of displaced people had been registered at the shelter and Wednesday’s tank shelling killed 13 people.
Asked about the incident, the Israeli army said ‘a thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway’, adding that it was examining the possibility that the strike was a ‘result of Hamas fire’.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini slammed Wednesday’s bombardment as a ‘blatant disregard of basic rules of war’, with the compound clearly marked as a UN facility and its coordinates shared with Israeli authorities.
The Israeli army is the only force known to have tanks operating in the Gaza Strip.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, destroyed vast swathes of Gaza and displaced nearly 85 per cent of the territory’s 2.3 million people.
The Hamas attack in southern Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 250 hostages were taken.
Before fighting broke out, the UNRWA struggled to meet funding requirements.
The agency’s chronic budget shortfalls worsened dramatically in 2018 when former US president Donald Trump cut support to the agency.
But US President Joe Biden’s administration has fully restored support, providing $340 million (£268 million) in 2022, making it the agency’s largest bilateral donor.
Several key donor countries said on Saturday that they would halt their funding, prompting Lazzarini to say it was ‘shocking to see a suspension of funds to the agency in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff’.
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell praised the agency on Friday for ‘playing a vital role over many years supporting vulnerable Palestinian refugees’.
But he said the bloc expected ‘full transparency on the allegations’ as well as ‘immediate measures against staff involved’.
Internally displaced Palestinians move past Israeli tanks after the Israeli army told residents of Khan Yunis camp to leave their homes and head towards Rafah camps near the Egyptian border, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 27
Palestinian people holding empty bowls try to reach out for food distributed by volunteers at donation point as Israeli attacks continue in Rafah, Gaza, on January 26
A displaced Palestinian child holds up an empty pot as she waits with others to receive food aid provided by a Palestinian youth group in the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 25
The Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, urged donors to reverse their suspension, calling on Saturday for ‘maximum support for this international organisation and not stopping support and assistance to it’.
Johann Soufi, a lawyer and former director of the UNRWA’s legal office in Gaza, said the agency had ‘always had a zero-tolerance policy for violence and incitement to hatred’.
‘Sanctioning UNRWA, which is barely keeping the entire population of Gaza alive, for the alleged responsibility of a few employees, is tantamount to collectively punishing the Gazan population, which is living in catastrophic humanitarian conditions,’ he said.
The accusations against UNRWA staff came hours after the UN’s top court ordered Israel to do everything it can to prevent any acts of genocide in Gaza.
The International Court of Justice on Friday handed down its first judgement in a landmark case brought by South Africa.
Soufi said the timing of the allegations against the UNRWA ‘raises questions’.