UNRWA: UN fires nine staff members over terror allegations

Following serious allegations of terrorism, the United Nations has terminated its cooperation with nine employees of the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA. An investigation that has been ongoing for months has concluded that “indications received indicate that UNRWA employees may have been involved in the armed attacks on October 7, 2023,” the world organization said.

When asked, UN spokesman Farhan Haq admitted that Israel’s allegations could not be confirmed with absolute certainty by the United Nations, “since information used by Israeli officials to substantiate the allegations remained in Israeli custody.” However, from the organization’s point of view, the evidence justifies the terminations.

Israel made serious allegations against UNRWA staff

The spokesman confirmed, however, that the UN believes it is highly or very likely that the UNRWA employees were involved in the devastating terrorist acts. Details on the nature of the involvement were not initially given. In ten other cases, however, the evidence was not sufficient to terminate the employment relationships. The United Nations stressed that it had not investigated whether the people who were dismissed were members of the militant Hamas. It remained unclear where the accused were.

In recent months, the UN has repeatedly complained that Israel is making serious allegations but not providing the underlying evidence. Even after the investigation has now been concluded, it seemed that the United Nations was unable to independently verify the authenticity of crucial pieces of evidence, such as videos.

UNRWA hit the headlines in January when Israel claimed that twelve staff members were involved in the devastating terrorist acts of the Islamist Hamas on October 7 – later allegations were made against other people. Some of the most important donors, including the USA and Germany, temporarily suspended their payments. However, Berlin, along with a number of other countries, resumed funding.

Another study, which looked at the extent to which UNRWA was living up to its neutrality requirements, found that the organization had some “robust” mechanisms in place, but also saw room for improvement. The organization, which has 12,000 employees in the Gaza Strip, is considered a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in need in the face of the devastating war that followed the terrorist attack.