What we know about Israel's allegations against UN staff in Gaza
Trucks from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) carrying fuel arrive on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on November 22, 2023. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)
The main UN agency in Gaza is in crisis after Israel accused some of its members of involvement in the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.
The United Nations Disaster Relief Agency (UNRWA) fired several employees in the wake of the undisclosed allegations. The United States and several other countries also stopped funding the organization, which employs around 13,000 people in Gaza, as the humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Palestinian enclave continues to grow.
We know this.
What is UNRWA?
UNRWA was founded by the United Nations after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced Palestinians.
The organization defines Palestinian refugees as “any person whose place of residence was Palestine during the period from June 1, 1946 to May 15, 1948 and who lost both their homeland and their livelihood as a result of the 1948 war.”
Those who meet this definition now number 5.9 million. Israel rejected the possibility of allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes, arguing that the move would change the Jewish character of the country.
Since its inception, UNRWA's mandate has been repeatedly renewed by the United Nations General Assembly (a voting body of all member states). According to its website, the agency helped four generations of Palestinian refugees and included education, health care, camp infrastructure, social services and emergency assistance, including during times of conflict.
According to the agency, at least 152 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
What are the allegations?
Neither Israel nor UNRWA have elaborated on the nature of UNRWA staff's alleged involvement in the events of October 7, nor have they specified the number of staff allegedly involved.
However, an Israeli official told CNN on Friday that Israel had shared information with both UNRWA and the United States about 12 personnel allegedly involved in the October 7 attacks.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said he had received “information about the suspected involvement of several staff members.” To protect the agency's ability to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza, it decided to “immediately terminate the contracts of these employees and launch a truth-clarification investigation,” according to a statement.
Any UNRWA staff member found to have been involved in terrorist attacks “will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” he added.
In addition to the alleged involvement of personnel on October 7, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also claimed that UNRWA facilities were used for “terrorist purposes” in a statement to CNN on Saturday.
“The Intelligence Directorate has put together a case incriminating several UNRWA personnel for their alleged involvement in the massacre, along with evidence indicating the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorist purposes,” the IDF statement said.
Asked about the claim regarding UNRWA facilities, the agency told CNN: “We have no further information at this time. “The Office of Internal Oversight Services (the United Nations’ internal oversight body) will investigate all of these allegations as part of the investigation commissioned by the UNRWA Commissioner-General.”
In an official statement released on Saturday, Hamas criticized the decision to end the workers' contracts and accused Israel of trying to undermine UNRWA and other organizations providing humanitarian aid in Gaza.
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