UN accepts UNRWA staffers joined Oct 7 Hamas massacre, gives 'few bad apples' argument; Israel insists 'deeper rot'

On the 114th day of the Hamas-Israel war, the United Nations Sunday sort of formally capitulated to Tel Aviv’s longstanding accusations that UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, popularly called UNRWA, was involved in the October 7 massacre.

While Israel submitted to the US a dossier of UNRWA officials and functionaries who had allegedly sullied their hands with the blood of civilians alongside Hamas, thin veils of “humanitarian work” vanished fast to expose UNRWA as the cradle of extremism.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified by these accusations” and vowed Sunday to hold to account “any UN employee involved in acts of terror”.

“Any UN employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” the UN chief said in a statement. “The Secretariat is ready to cooperate with a competent authority able to prosecute the individuals in line with the Secretariat’s normal procedures for such cooperation.”

Of the 12 implicated, he said, nine had been terminated, one was confirmed dead and the identities of the other two were being clarified.

The New York Times, on the testimony of two Western officials who were not named for anonymity, broke that the contents of the dossier had been discussed, but independent verification of the allegations had not been carried out. Nonetheless, the Israeli claims were credible enough.

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According to the NYT, Israel has listed the names and jobs of 12 UNRWA employees who allegedly were part of the October 7 Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians in kibbutz. It further adds that Israeli intelligence had tracked the movement of six of these accused inside Israel on October 7 based on the location of their mobile phones, while others had been caught while talking over their phones.

As per Israel’s accusations, three of these UNRWA staffers got text messages to assemble at muster points on October 7 even as one of these 12 was ordered to bring rocket=propelled grenades (RPGs) stashed at his house.

The Israeli dossier also added that 110 of these 12 accused UNRWA staffers were active Hamas members, while one was affiliated to the Islamic Jihad.

What comes as a shocker is that of these 12, seven were teachers at UNRWA schools, imparting lessons in math and Arabic, according to the NYT report, while two worked in ancillary roles at the schools. The remaining three, NYT reported, were described in the dossier as clerk, social worker and storeroom manager.

According to reports, the most detailed description of the involvement of UNRWA staffers in the Hamas massacre on October 7 came for a school in Khan Younis. The school counsellor is accused of abducting an Israeli woman with the help of his son.

NYT also reported that in another case cited in the Israeli dossier, a social worker from Nuseirat, in central Gaza, is accused of participating in bringing the body of an Israeli soldier into Gaza and distributing ammunition and working out logistics for vehicles on October 7.

Over the weekend, eleven UNRWA donor countries—the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Finland, France, Switzerland, and Japan—suspended funding to the agency considering the evidence provided by Israel.
Guterres, meanwhile, has “strongly” urged these countries to lift the funding sanctions and “guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations”.

“The tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalised. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met,” Guterres said.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, on the other hand, sounded defiant. “It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an Agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region. "

With inputs from agencies