UN aid agency investigates claim that workers were involved in October 7 attack

World

The UN agency that helps Palestinians known as UNRWA said on Friday that it had fired several employees who accused Israeli authorities of involvement in the October 7 Hamas-led terrorist attacks and that it had launched an investigation into the allegations .

The US State Department said it had “temporarily halted additional funding” to the agency, noting that the allegations involved 12 UNRWA employees.

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with UN Secretary General António Guterres on Thursday and called for “a thorough and expeditious investigation,” the State Department said. Mr Blinken also told the UN leader that the United States was asking Israel for more information.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, said in a statement that he immediately fired the UNRWA employees to “protect the Agency's ability to provide humanitarian assistance.” He added that any UNRWA staff member involved “will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.” He did not say how many UNRWA workers had been charged.

“These shocking allegations come as more than two million people in Gaza depend on the life-saving assistance the Agency has provided since the start of the war,” he said. “Anyone who betrays the fundamental values of the United Nations also betrays those we serve in Gaza, across the region and around the world.”

UNRWA, or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, is one of Gaza's largest employers, with approximately 13,000 personnel directing the enclave's education, healthcare and food assistance operations. During the war, it played a crucial role in overseeing the distribution of food and medical aid in Gaza.

United Nations officials have repeatedly said that ordinary Gazans are with the risk of famine and are experiencing a peak infectious diseases as the weather gets colder.

Josep Borrell Fontelles, the EU's top diplomat and vice-president of the European Commission, said he was “extremely concerned” by allegations that UN staff were involved in the terrorist attacks. He said the Commission was in contact with UNRWA and expected it to take immediate action against the personnel involved.