The United Nations has fired nine staff members from UNRWA, its agency for Palestinian refugees, after an internal investigation found they “may have” been involved in the Hamas-led October 7 attack against Israel.
The UN secretary-general’s office announced the move in a brief statement to journalists. Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general did not elaborate on the UNRWA staffers’ likely role in the terrorist attack, or on the evidence that prompted its decision.
The nine included some staffers who previously had been fired over the claims, Mr Haq said, but he did not clarify how many. The agency previously fired seven employees over the allegations.
Mr Haq said the nine individuals were men. He did not give details of what they may have done.
“For us, any participation in the attacks is a tremendous betrayal of the sort of work that we are supposed to be doing on behalf of the Palestinian people,” Mr Haq said.
The UN’s internal watchdog has been investigating the agency since Israel in January accused 12 UNRWA staffers of being involved in the October 7 attack on Israel, in which Terrorists killed 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others.
Israel’s allegations initially led top donor countries to suspend their funding for UNRWA. That caused a cash crunch of about $US450 million ($700 million). Since then, all donor countries except for the US have decided to resume funding.
Shortly after the UN announcement, Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani posted a statement on social media platform X.
“Your ‘relief’ agency has officially stooped to a new level of low and it is time that the world sees your true face,” he said.
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