Israel yet to offer proof UN staff in Gaza have ties to Hamas, review finds
- Report investigated claims hundreds of UNRWA staff are members of terrorist groups
- Probe is separate from claims agency staff joined October 7 Hamas attack on Israel
Israel has yet to provide evidence that workers for the United Nations relief agency in the Gaza Strip have widespread ties to terrorist groups, according to the results of an external probe.
The UN-commissioned investigation found “neutrality-related issues persist” at the UN Relief and Works Agency, including cases where facilities were “misused for political or military gains”, according to a report released on Monday.
But the inquiry didn’t come to any conclusions on Israeli claims that as much as 10 per cent of the relief agency’s 12,000 workers were members of the militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“Israel made public claims that a significant number of UNRWA employees are members of terrorist organisations,” wrote the review team, led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna. “However, Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of this.”
The inquiry is separate from a UN investigation that’s looking into Israeli claims that several UNRWA employee participated in the October 7 assault by Hamas on Israel that killed some 1,200 people. The UN has dismissed at least nine UNRWA workers over that claim.
UNRWA serves some 2 million Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and has been the main conduit for aid in Gaza since Israel launched a military campaign there to eradicate Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union.
