More than ten countries have suspended funds for a United Nations Palestinian aid agency following Israel's claim that staff members took part in abductions and killings during the October 7 raid. The six-page report, obtained by Reuters, alleges that roughly 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, have doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants. The report lists 11 names and pictures for them.
The Palestinians doubled down, accusing Israel of falsifying intelligence to mar UNRWA, who are currently investigating the allegations and have fired several staffers as a result.
One of the alleged participants is a school counselor who helped his son abduct a woman during the Hamas infiltration in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 253 kidnapped.
Another is a UNRWA social worker who stands accused of unspecified involvement in the transfer to Gaza of a slain Israel soldier's corpse and coordinating the movements of trucks carrying supplies of weaponry.
A third Palestinian on the list is charged with taking part in a rampage in the Israeli border village Beeri, where one-tenth of the residents were killed. Reuters further revealed a fourth name on the list had allegedly participated in an attack on Reim, the site where an army base was overrun and a rave where more than 360 partygoers died.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini should go. "UNRWA employees participated in the massacre of October 7," he said. "Lazzarini should draw conclusions and resign," further quoted by the news outlet.
The document was shown to Reuters by a source who could not be identified by name or nationality. The source said it had been compiled by Israeli intelligence and shared with the United States. The U.S. subsequently ceased all funding to UNRWA.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of a "premeditated political attack" on the agency, which it has long criticized, and called for restoration of aid funds.
An Israeli official told Reuters the 190 mentioned in the dossier were "hardened fighters, killers" whereas overall some 10% of UNRWA staff were believed to have more general affiliation with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The agency employs 13,000 people in Gaza.
WHAT IS UNRWA?
The Financial Times reports that UNRWA employs 13,000 members in Gaza and has an overall staff of 30,000 worldwide. It is the primary agency for overseeing aid as well as running schools and hospitals for Palestinian refugees based in the Middle East, including Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
FT explains the allegations made by Israel are founded on documents and identification cards collected since the start of the Gaza conflict, according to the person with intimate knowledge of the dossier.
UN secretary-general António Guterres, in a statement on Sunday, said that he was "horrified" by the accusations against the 12 UNRWA employees, per the Financial Times. The employment of nine had been terminated, one was no longer alive while the status of the two others is still being clarified, he said.
The top UN chief, however, pleaded with world leaders to continue funding the agency, saying: "Two million civilians in Gaza depend on critical aid from UNRWA for daily survival. I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA's operations."
UNRWA is giving vital support to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by Israel's assault on Gaza. According to Palestinian officials, more than 26,000 have been killed, and more than 85 percent of the 2.3 million population were forced to flee their homes.
The Norwegian Refugee Council notes the suspension of aid is threatening the life-saving assistance that UNRWA is providing to the people of Gaza, half of whom are just children.
"We are shocked by the reckless decision to cut a lifeline for an entire population by some of the very countries that had called for aid in Gaza to be stepped up," it said.
