Details emerge about UN workers accused of aiding the Hamas attack

One is accused of kidnapping a woman. Another is said to have distributed ammunition. A third was said to have taken part in the kibbutz massacre that killed 97 people. And all are said to be employees of the United Nations aid agency that educates, shelters and feeds hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The allegations are included in a dossier provided to the US government detailing Israel's claims against a dozen United Nations Relief and Works Agency employees it says played a role in the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 or in their aftermath.

The UN said on Friday it had fired several employees after being informed of the allegations. But little was known about the allegations until the dossier was reviewed by The New York Times on Sunday.

The accusations have prompted eight countries, including the United States, to suspend some aid payments to UNRWA, as the organization is known, even as the war plunges Palestinians in Gaza into a desperate situation. More than 26,000 people have been killed there and nearly two million displaced, according to Gaza and UN officials.

UNRWA workers have been accused of helping Hamas organize the attack that sparked the war in Gaza, or in the days that followed. About 1,200 people in Israel were killed that day, Israeli officials say, and about 240 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

On Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres described himself as “shocked by these allegations” and noted that nine of the 12 accused employees had been fired. But Mr Guterres implored countries that had suspended aid payments to reconsider. UNRWA is one of the largest employers in Gaza, employing 13,000 people, mainly Palestinians.

Asked about Israel's allegations on Sunday, UNRWA said two of the 12 employees were dead but could not provide more information while the UN Office for Internal Oversight Services was still investigating.

Two Western officials confirmed on condition of anonymity that they had been briefed on the contents of the dossier in recent days, but said they had been unable to verify the details. The Times verified the identity of one of the 12 workers, a warehouse manager, whose social media profile lists him as an UNRWA employee and shows him wearing UN-branded clothing.

The Israeli dossier, presented to US officials on Friday, lists the names and positions of UNRWA employees and the accusations against them.

The dossier stated that Israeli intelligence officers had determined the movements of six of the men within Israel on October 7 from their phones; others were monitored as they made phone calls in Gaza, discussing, the Israelis say, their involvement in the Hamas attack.

Three others received text messages telling them to report to collection points on Oct. 7, and one was told to take rocket-propelled grenades stored at his home, according to the filing.

The Israelis described ten of the employees as members of Hamas, the militant group that controlled Gaza at the time of the October 7 attack. Another is said to have ties to another militant group, Islamic Jihad.

Yet seven of the suspects are also believed to be teachers at UNRWA schools, teaching students subjects such as mathematics and Arabic. Two others worked at the schools in other capacities. The remaining three were described as a clerk, a social worker and the warehouse manager.

The most detailed allegations in the file concerned a school counselor from Khan Younis, southern Gaza, who is accused of working with his son to kidnap a woman from Israel.

A social worker from Nuseirat, in central Gaza, is accused of helping bring the body of a dead Israeli soldier to Gaza, distributing ammunition and coordinating vehicles on the day of the attack.

The Israeli accusations come against the backdrop of decades-long conflicts with UNRWA. Since 1949, the organization has cared for the families of Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes during the wars surrounding the establishment of the State of Israel.

The organization provides vital assistance to more than five million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, whose future and status have never been resolved despite years of negotiations.

But for critics, including many Israelis, the agency is an obstacle to resolving the conflict. Its existence, they say, prevents Palestinian refugees from integrating into new communities and fuels their dreams of one day returning to what is now Israel — a goal that Israel says it will never allow. And in Gaza, Israel argues, UNRWA has fallen under the influence of Hamas, a claim the organization rejects.

This is not the first time the United States has cut off funding to the UN agency. The Trump administration has suspended aid as part of its efforts to pressure Palestinian leaders to stop demanding that refugees be allowed to return to Israel.

But the current threat to its funding is considered the most serious in history because it comes at a time of crisis for Gaza.

Amid warnings of famine, the collapse of the healthcare system and the mass displacement of the Palestinian population, UNRWA's work is considered more important than ever. It helps coordinate the distribution of the aid – however meager – that arrives in southern Gaza every day, and the schools house more than a million Gazans, according to agency statistics.

The suspension of funding could be felt quickly. Unlike other UN agencies, UNRWA does not have a strategic financial reserve. On Sunday, Mr Guterres said services may have to be reduced from February.

A day earlier, the agency's commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, warned of an impending catastrophe.

“It would be grossly irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community it serves over allegations of criminal acts against some individuals, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region,” he said.

“The lives of people in Gaza depend on this support, and so does regional stability,” Mr Lazzarini said.

The State Department on Friday acknowledged the crucial humanitarian role played by UNRWA, but said it was suspending its funding while it reviewed both the allegations and the agency's response to them.

Israeli officials themselves worried on Sunday about whether their accusations could ultimately make their own position more difficult, according to three officials involved in the discussion. A collapse in the delivery of services to Gaza could force Israel to take on a greater role in aid distribution – a role it does not want.

Reports of the allegations against the aid workers came on the same day that the International Court of Justice issued an interim ruling on genocide allegations made by South Africa against Israel. The court ordered Israel to take action to prevent genocide by its forces in Gaza and allow more aid to the area.

Reporting was contributed by Johnatan Reiss, Julian E Barnes, Gabby Sobelman And Myra Noveck.