Nine countries, including the U.S., temporarily cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) over some of its employee’s alleged ties to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack. However, information obtained from an Israeli intelligence dossier alleges those ties run much deeper than previously reported.
The United Nations had already fired several staff members and launched an investigation in response to Friday, Jan. 26, allegations. Still, the allegations against a dozen of its employees working with Hamas prompted the U.S. to halt funding to the UNRWA.
“The secretary-general is horrified by this news and asks Mr. Lazzarini to investigate this matter swiftly and to ensure that any UNRWA employee shown to have participated or embedded in what transpired on Oct. 7 or in any other criminal activity be terminated immediately and referred for a potential criminal prosecution,” U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
According to reports, an Israeli intelligence dossier provided to U.S. government officials alleges that 190 employees of the UNRWA doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants. The Associated Press reported that no evidence has been provided to back the latest allegations.
According to information released from the dossier, one of the employees, a school counselor, allegedly helped in the abduction of an Israeli woman during the Oct. 7 attack.
Israeli officials reportedly told Reuters that the 190 UNRWA workers listed in the dossier were “hardened fighters, killers,” and that 10% of the agency’s workforce has ties to militant groups.
A social worker was said to have helped Hamas with weapons supplies, along with coordinating transportation for the attackers. Two more are accused of participating in the rampages. One, at the attack on an Israeli border village where one-tenth of its residents were killed, and the other is accused of taking part in the attack on Reim, where more than 360 people were killed at a rave.
The allegations sparked concern about how deep ties to Hamas run within the U.N.’s aid organization. However, Palestinian officials accused Israel of falsifying the information to hurt UNRWA.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, a longtime critic of the agency, called it a “premeditated political attack” on the UNRWA.
Meanwhile, calling the temporary suspension of funding “shocking,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini is urging the U.S. and other countries to reverse its pause in funding.
“UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over 2 million people depending on it for their sheer survival,” Lazzarini said. “Many are hungry as the clock is ticking towards a looming famine. The agency runs shelters for over 1 million people and provides food and primary healthcare even at the height of the hostilities.”
Lazzarini added the U.N.’s Internal Oversight Services has begun its own investigation into this matter. UNRWA’s director of communications has warned that without funding, the agency would have to stop providing aid to Gaza by the end of February.
