Israel accuses employees of the UN Palestinian Relief Agency of being involved in the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7th. The USA and other countries have now stopped their payments to the UN organization.
The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is coming under increasing pressure because of suspicions that some of its employees may have been involved in the radical Islamic Hamas attack against Israel on October 7th. Several countries temporarily suspended their payments to the UN organization. These include the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Italy and Finland.
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini had reported that Israel had provided the aid agency with information that several employees were said to have been involved in the bloodbath. The UN has not yet announced how the employees may have been involved in the Hamas massacre in Israel.
UN Secretary General “horrified”
Lazzarini and UN Secretary-General António Guterres were horrified and threatened those affected with criminal consequences if their suspicions were confirmed. Lazzarini fired the employees and ordered an investigation.
Payments stopped
The Foreign Office welcomed the UN’s reaction. The ministry wrote on the X platform that they were deeply concerned about the reports. “I expect a comprehensive, thorough and transparent investigation,” wrote Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze on , wrote Schulze. At the same time, she explained: The aid organization plays “a central and vital role in providing supplies for the Palestinian population in Gaza.” According to its own information, the federal government supported the UN aid agency with more than 200 million euros in 2023 alone.
Other Western countries are also important donors to UNRWA. In response, the USA, Canada and Great Britain temporarily suspended the provision of additional funds for the UN aid agency. According to the US State Department, the United States is extremely concerned. The Foreign Office in London said it was appalled by the allegations and wanted to investigate them. Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani assured: “We are committed to providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population and protecting the security of Israel.”
Israel: “UNRWA is the civilian wing of Hamas”
For Israel’s UN ambassador, the new allegations are just another sign of the United Nations’ bias. Gilad Erdan made harsh comments at an event on the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust. “Not only is the United Nations being used as a weapon to deny us the right to exist, but also to physically exterminate us,” he said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused the UN aid agency of having many employees who were members of Hamas and supported terrorism. He provided no evidence of this. In a post on Platform X, he wrote that UNRWA serves as the civilian arm of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to his wishes, the organization should no longer play a role in the Palestinian territory after the end of the war.
Hamas speaks of a smear campaign
Hamas spoke of a smear campaign by Israel against international organizations that help the Palestinians. At the same time, the Islamist organization condemned the fact that UNRWA had criticized Hamas’ actions and called for the release of the hostages kidnapped from Israel. It is not the organization’s task to express political positions in the conflict.
Lazzarini described the attacks on October 7th last year as abhorrent. Terrorists from Hamas and other extremist Palestinian groups in Israel murdered more than 1,200 people in Israel. They also abducted more than 250 people to the Gaza Strip in the brutal massacre.
Aid organization repeatedly criticized
After October 7, there were also unconfirmed reports that UNRWA teachers celebrated the massacre. According to an Israeli media report, which is also unconfirmed, one of the hostages is said to have been held by an employee of the organization. Neither information can currently be independently verified.
But the aid organization, which has around 30,000 employees, is repeatedly criticized for playing into the hands of Hamas. In fact, members of the terrorist militia repeatedly put the UN organization under pressure to justify themselves by misusing facilities such as hospitals or schools for their own purposes.
Dozens of UNRWA aid workers have also been killed since Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas massacre.
The United Nations founded UNRWA in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees. According to the organization, around 5.9 million people are now entitled to its services. These include Palestinians who fled or were expelled in 1948, as well as their descendants. UNRWA operates in Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, among others.
Antje Passenheim, ARD New York, tagesschau, January 26, 2024 11:55 p.m