UN fires additional staffers linked to possible involvement in Oct. 7 attack on Israel
UNRWA has been the main agency distributing aid to Palestinians in Gaza during the war.
JERUSALEM — The United Nations said Monday it has fired additional staff members from its agency for Palestinian refugees after an internal investigation found they may have been involved in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
The U.N. secretary-general’s office announced the move in a brief statement to journalists. Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general, did not elaborate on the UNRWA staffers’ likely role in the attack or on the evidence that prompted its decision.
UNRWA previously fired 12 staffers and put seven staffers on administrative leave without pay over the claims. The group of nine staffers the U.N. announced it had fired Monday includes some from each group, said Juliette Touma, communications director for UNRWA.
The U.N. did not clarify how many have now been fired from the agency in total.
The U.N.’s internal watchdog has been investigating the agency since Israel in January accused 12 UNRWA staffers of being involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which militants killed 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others.
Israel’s allegations initially led top donor countries to suspend their funding for UNRWA. That caused a cash crunch of about $450 million dollars. Since then, all donor countries except for the United States have decided to resume funding.
Oren Marmorstein, the spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on X following the announcement of the firings that Israel was again calling for donor countries to suspend funding “as the funds may go to terrorist elements.”
“UNRWA is part of the problem and not part of the solution, and anyone who seeks the best interests of Israel, the Gaza Strip and the region should act to replace UNWRA’s activities with other agencies,” he wrote.
The U.N. watchdog charged with investigating UNRWA, called the Office of Internal Oversight Services, said it drew on evidence provided by Israel in discussions with Israeli authorities. It said it could not independently corroborate that evidence since it did not have direct access to it. The investigators also reviewed internal UNRWA information, including staff records, email and other communications data.
It said it found sufficient evidence pointing to nine employees’ potential involvement in the Oct. 7 attack.
An Israeli official with knowledge of the discussions, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said that Israeli authorities spent hours on each accused UNRWA staffer when briefing U.N. investigators on their findings.
“I have decided that in the case of these remaining nine staff members, they cannot work for UNRWA,” the agency’s head Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.
……..
- Discussion
-
UN fires additional staffers linked to possible involvement in Oct. 7 attack on Israel https://t.co/tsIsLRZqrv
— POLITICO (@politico) August 6, 2024
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.