UN Admits UNRWA Involvement in October 7 Massacre in Israel

The United Nations has admitted that at least nine employees of its UNRWA Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East may have been involved in the attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to an investigation stated UN spokesman Farhan Haq. The staff will be fired, he said.

UN Internal Investigation affected 19 employees of the agency, which carries out virtually all humanitarian and social functions in the Gaza Strip. For nine employees, evidence was found to implicate them in the attack, sufficient to warrant their dismissal. For another nine employees, there was insufficient evidence to draw conclusions, and for one employee, no evidence was found to implicate them in the attack.

The Israeli side has previously stated on numerous occasions that UNRWA is closely linked to the radical Hamas group that governs the Gaza Strip, which is recognized as a terrorist group in the United States and Europe and which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 civilians, including children, women and the elderly, and taking more than 250 hostage. According to Israeli officials, the number of UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip linked to Hamas could be in the hundreds. UNRWA denied such figures, but promised to conduct an investigation.

In January, Israel submitted a report to the UN that alleged agency employees may have been involved in crimes. It was based on information obtained by the Israeli army and security services based on an analysis of information about the October 7 attack. The head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, said an investigation would be conducted and employees involved in illegal activities would be fired. Some UN member states, including the United States and many EU countries, suspended funding to UNRWA.

• The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was founded in 1949. It provides assistance to Palestinian refugees from Israel in Syria, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. UNRWA is responsible for education, health care and social services. The United States is one of UNRWA’s largest financial donors.
• More than 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year. 253 people, both Israelis and foreigners, were taken hostage. Israel launched a major military operation in the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry reports that more than 30,000 people have been killed in the Strip as a result of Israeli military action. There is no independent confirmation of these figures.