Following an investigation by the UN oversight body, nine people were fired, the spokesman said.
The United Nations says nine employees of UNRWA, its agency for Palestinian refugees, “may have been involved” in the October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, adding that they have been fired.
“We have sufficient information to take the action we are taking – namely the dismissal of these nine individuals,” UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Monday.
Haq said the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will need to assess any additional measures to “fully corroborate”.
Haq spoke after the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) concluded its investigation into allegations made by Israel earlier this year that a total of 19 UNRWA personnel were involved in the attack.
“OIOS made findings in relation to each of the 19 UNRWA personnel allegedly involved in the attacks,” Haq said.
“In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of employee involvement, while in another nine cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support employee involvement,” he said.
Haq said all nine individuals the investigation concluded may have been involved were men.
He did not elaborate on what they may have done, but said: “For us, any participation in the attacks is a tremendous betrayal of the kind of work we should be doing on behalf of the Palestinian people.”
Reacting to the news, the Israeli army said that UNRWA had reached a “new low”.
“Your ‘aid’ agency has officially fallen to a new low and it’s time for the world to see your true face,” Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, the army’s international spokesman, said on X.
Following the Israeli allegations, many governments, including major donor the United States, abruptly suspended funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to provide aid to Gaza. Since then, several countries have resumed payments.
Israel promised to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 1,139 people, most of them civilians, and more than 200 others taken captive.
Since then, Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 39,550 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
UNRWA, which has provided essential aid to Palestinian refugees since 1949, has long been criticized by Israel.
Israel intensified its accusations in March, saying that more than 450 UNRWA employees were military agents in Gaza “terrorist” groups. UNRWA employs 32,000 people across its area of operations, 13,000 of them in Gaza.
UNWRA said in March that some staff released in Gaza from Israeli detention reported being pressured by Israeli authorities to falsely state that the agency has ties to Hamas and that the staff participated in the October 7 attacks.
Earlier this year, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini called on Israel to “stop its campaign” against the organization, citing “outrageous” attacks on its staff, facilities and operations.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
