A United Nations investigation has found that nine employees from its main agency for Palestinian humanitarian relief, UNWRA, \u201cmay have\u201d been involved in the October 7 attack and no longer work at the agency. <\/p>\n
UNRWA has 14,000 staff members in Gaza. <\/p>\n
The investigation was launched in January after Israel accused some UNRWA employees of participating in the attack that left 1,200 people in Israel dead. UN investigators were not able to speak with the accused, though some accused responded to written questions. <\/p>\n
The UN\u2019s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) investigated a total of 19 employees who were accused by Israel of participation in the attack. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe evidence obtained by OIOS indicated that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October 2023,\u201d OIOS said in a statement. In nine other cases, OIOS said that the evidence was \u201cinsufficient\u201d for the employees to be fired, but that \u201cappropriate measures will be taken in due course.\u201d In the final case, \u201cno evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member\u2019s involvement.\u201d <\/p>\n
In a statement on X, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Nadav Shoshani, said: \u201c9 of your employees might have participated in the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cYour \u2018relief\u2019 agency has officially stooped to a new level of low, and it is time that the world sees your true face.\u201d <\/p>\n
UNRWA was founded by the UN a year after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which marked the creation of Israel and the displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in an event known by Palestinians as the Nakba (catastrophe). <\/p>\n
The agency provides a wide range of aid and services to Palestinian refugees and their descendants. It is a major source of employment for the refugees, who make up most of its more than 30,000 employees across the Middle East, and has representative offices in New York, Geneva and Brussels. <\/p>\n
In a statement on Monday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that his agency\u2019s \u201cpriority is to continue lifesaving and critical services for Palestine Refugees in Gaza and across the region, especially in the face of the ongoing war, the instability and risk of regional escalation.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cUNRWA is committed to continue upholding the fundamental principles and values of the United Nations, including the humanitarian principle of neutrality, and to ensuring that all its staff abide by the Agency\u2019s policy on outside and political activities.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Israeli government in January accused some UNRWA staff members of involvement in the October 7 attacks. The Israeli government did not make their evidence public, nor \u2013 according to UNRWA \u2013 did they share it with UNRWA. Nonetheless, UNWRA in January said that it had terminated the accused employees\u2019 contracts. <\/p>\n
Israel in February released some details about 12 employees whom it accused, including their names, photos and alleged roles with Hamas. The additional details also included screengrabs of what Israel said were two UNWRA employees \u2013 a social worker and math teacher \u2013 in Israel on October 7. <\/p>\n
The allegations led to several UNRWA\u2019s most important donor countries to withdraw funding from the agency. Most of those countries have reinstated their funding. The United States \u2013 historically, UNRWA\u2019s largest donor \u2013 has not. <\/p>\n
Israel accused further employees of involvement in March and April. <\/p>\n
OIOS investigators met with Israeli officials as part of their investigation and review their intelligence. They also reviewed UNRWA employees\u2019 communications and media reports. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of safety concerns,\u201d they did not meet with the accused UNRWA staff or corroborating witnesses. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn some cases, however, OIOS was able to request and secure videorecorded statements from the subjects who responded to a series of set questions addressing the allegations of their involvement in the armed attacks of 7 October 2023,\u201d the UN said in a statement. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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