UN chief Antonio Guterres to meet major UNRWA donors today, call for 'swift' probe into October 7 claims

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to hold a meeting today with major donors to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after accusations by Israel against 12 agency staff members, implicating them in the October 7 attacks, according to a Times of Israel report, citing Guterres’ spokesperson. Several nations, including the United States, France, Britain, Germany, and Japan, have opted to withhold additional funding to the agency until a thorough investigation is conducted into the alleged involvement of its staff. Addressing the situation, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric informed reporters on Monday that Guterres has actively participated in discussions with the UNRWA leadership and donors to the agency. Guterres met earlier with the head of internal UN investigations to ensure that the inquiry into accusations that UNRWA staff took part in Hamas’s October 7 massacre “will be done swiftly and as efficiently as possible,” the report quoted Dujarric as saying. “The secretary-general is personally horrified by the accusations against employees of UNRWA,” he added. “But his message to donors — especially those who have suspended their contributions — is to at least guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations, as we have tens of thousands of dedicated staff working throughout the region,” Dujarric said. Guterres already met with Washington’s representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Monday, and “he will be hosting a meeting here in New York with the major donors for UNRWA (Tuesday) afternoon here,” Dujarric said. “The secretary-general has also been engaging with the UNRWA leadership and donors to UNRWA, as well as regional leaders, such as King Abdullah of Jordan, whom he spoke to a short while ago, and President (Abdel Fattah) al-Sisi of Egypt.” UNRWA said it has acted promptly over allegations but that cuts in funding will affect ordinary Palestinians. The accusations against UNRWA are the latest in a long line of Israeli complaints about the UN agency, such as that it allows anti-Israeli incitement to be taught in its hundreds of schools and that some of its staff collaborate with Hamas. The Trump administration suspended funding to the agency in 2018, but US President Joe Biden restored it. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that intel Jerusalem shared with the US indicated that of the roughly 12,000 Gazan employees of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, some 1,200 have ties to either Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The report further stated that around 50% of the UN agency’s employees in Gaza have at least one close relative with ties to the terror groups. The Associated Press said it saw an Israeli document alleging that at least 190 UNRWA workers were themselves Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives, without providing evidence. It was not clear whether it was the same document. With inputs from agencies