Aug 5, 2024 - World

Nine UN employees "may have been involved" in Oct. 7 attack

Avery Lotz

Displaced Palestinians line up to fill containers with water at a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees school. — Displaced Palestinians line up to fill containers with water at a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) school in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on July 23, 2024. Photo: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Nine staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees may have been involved in Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people, a United Nations investigation found.

The big picture: The UN announced Monday that those nine staffers will be fired, following an internal investigation that was spurred by Israel alleging that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the terrorist attack.

For decades, the agency has served as the primary organization delivering humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Driving the news: Nineteen area staffers were investigated by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, according to a UN statement released Monday.

In nine cases, "the evidence obtained by OIOS indicated that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October 2023," the UN release read, adding those individuals have been fired.
In one case, no evidence was found tying the person to allegations they were involved, and "insufficient" evidence to support allegations was collected in nine other cases.
"With respect to these ten cases, appropriate measures will be taken in due course, in conformity with UNRWA Regulations and Rules," the UN statement continued.
UNRWA has around 13,000 employees in Gaza.

Zoom in: Two of the 19 staff members investigated for their alleged involvement in the attacks have died, Reuters reported.

Catch up quick: The U.S. was the first country to halt funding for UNRWA after Israel's accusations. They were joined by Germany, Canada, the U.K. and six other Western nations, Axios' Barak Ravid reported in January. Several of those countries subsequently resumed funding.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned in a statement at the time that pausing funding could result in dire repercussions for the besieged Gaza population, writing, "UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over 2 million people depending on it for their sheer survival."

A UN-backed body found in a June report that nearly half a million people in the Gaza Strip are at risk of starvation.
More than 39,000 people been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

What they're saying: Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Nadav Shoshani addressed the agency in a statement on X in response to the UN findings, writing: "Your 'relief' agency has officially stooped to a new level of low, and it is time that the world sees your true face."

Lazzarini said UNRWA would "continue its lifesaving and critical services" and was committed to upholding the UN's values, including "the humanitarian principle of neutrality."

Go deeper: Report says Israel hasn't proved alleged widespread UNRWA staff links to Hamas

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Nine UN employees "may have been involved" in Oct. 7 attack

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