UN fires 9 staff who ‘may have been involved’ in October 7 attack on Israel
- The United Nations launched its investigation after Israel charged that 19 UNRWA staff took part in the Hamas-led attacks
The United Nations said that nine employees of its agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) “may have been involved” in the October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, which sparked war in Gaza, and have been fired.
“We have sufficient information in order to take the actions that we’re taking – which is to say, the termination of these nine individuals,” UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Monday.
Haq said the organisation will need to evaluate any further steps to “fully corroborate” the allegations.
Haq was speaking after the UN’s oversight body, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, completed its investigation into the allegations earlier this year by Israel that a total of 19 UNRWA employees may have been involved in the attack.
“In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff members’ involvement,” Haq said in a statement.