 "Israel yet to provide evidence to back Hamas 7 October attack claims against UNRWA staff, says UN")
A month after Israel accused 12 United Nations staff members of involvement in the Hamas attack on 7 October, UN investigators are still awaiting evidence from Israel to substantiate the claims even though they anticipate receiving some material “shortly”, according to The Guardian report.
The allegations against the 12 employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) prompted 16 major donors to suspend contributions totaling $450 million. This occurred at a critical juncture when over two million Gazans are on the brink of famine.
UNRWA has warned it is nearing a “breaking point” and can sustain operations for just one more month with current funds, added the report.
On January 29, the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) initiated an investigation following Israel’s allegations, first presented to UNRWA in January. An update on the investigation was provided to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday.
According to The Guardian report, citing diplomats who reviewed the preliminary OIOS report, no new evidence from Israel has surfaced since the initial claims were made in January, which lacked substantiation.
Summarising the findings, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric confirmed the investigation is still awaiting corroborating material from Israel.
“OIOS investigators have reviewed the initial information received by UNRWA from Israeli authorities. The investigation remains ongoing. OIOS will seek to corroborate additional information and to compare the information obtained with materials held by Israeli authorities, which OIOS expects to receive shortly," The Guardian quoted Dujarric as saying.
“OIOS staff are planning to visit Israel soon to obtain information from Israeli authorities that may be relevant to the investigation,” Dujarric said, adding that the investigators had described member state cooperation as “adequate”.
Impact Shorts
View AllHe said that the investigators had consulted other member states and visited the UNRWA headquarters in Jordan to review information on UNRWA staff and operations, including electronic communications and data on the use of UN vehicles.
According to The Wall Street Journal report last week, US national intelligence council assessed with “low confidence” that a handful of UNRWA staffers had participated in the 7 October attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
Queries regarding the investigation were redirected by the Israeli mission at the UN to the foreign ministry in Tel Aviv. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz affirmed the government’s intention to provide evidence substantiating UNRWA’s involvement in terrorism and its adverse effects on the region’s future.
Following initial allegations against 12 UNRWA workers, nine of whom are reportedly alive, Israel asserted that a total of 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, had affiliations with Hamas or Islamic Jihad. The Israeli military disclosed the discovery of a tunnel beneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters, along with firearms and ammunition found within the premises.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, remarked that the agency was unaware of what lay beneath its Gaza headquarters, which had been vacated since an Israeli evacuation order in October. Lazzarini emphasised that during periods of relative calm, UNRWA routinely inspected its facilities and promptly objected to any breaches of neutrality.
Israel has persistently advocated for the dismantling of UNRWA, established in 1949. With 30,000 personnel, including 13,000 in Gaza, UNRWA surpasses other UN agencies in terms of staff numbers, as the latter collectively employ around 200 individuals in Gaza.
With inputs from agencies
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