TEL AVIV: An Israeli doc obtained Monday spelled out allegations in opposition to a dozen UN staff the nation says participated in Hamas’ October 7 assault – claiming seven stormed into Israeli territory, together with two who participated in kidnappings.
The allegations in opposition to staffers with the UN company for Palestinian refugees prompted Western nations to freeze funds important for the physique, which is a lifeline for determined Palestinians in Gaza. The UN fired 9 of the 12 accused staff and condemned “the abhorrent alleged acts” of employees members.
The accusations come after years of tensions between Israel and the company referred to as UNRWA over its work in Gaza, the place it employs roughly 13,000 individuals.
Regardless of the humanitarian disaster unfolding within the besieged territory – the place Israel’s conflict in opposition to Hamas has displaced the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants and officers say 1 / 4 of Palestinians are ravenous – main donors, together with the U.S. and Britain, have lower funding. On Monday, Japan and Austria joined them in pausing help.
With nearly all of its price range doubtful, UNRWA says it will likely be pressured to halt operations inside weeks if funding is not restored.
The risk to the UN company got here as Israel mentioned cease-fire talks held Sunday have been constructive however that “vital gaps” remained in any potential settlement. The talks are supposed to result in some respite to war-torn Gaza and safe the discharge of greater than 100 hostages nonetheless held within the territory.
Combating continued, additional complicating help to war-weary individuals in Gaza. Israel issued an evacuation order to residents within the western a part of Gaza Metropolis, urging them to go south. The order indicated that battles are nonetheless being waged in northern Gaza, an space Israel pummeled within the first weeks of the conflict and the place it had beforehand mentioned it held navy management.
The conflict was sparked with Hamas’ October 7 assault which killed 1,200 individuals, principally civilians, and noticed some 250 individuals taken captive, based on Israeli authorities.
The assault set off an intense air, sea and floor offensive that has killed greater than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them girls and minors, based on the Well being Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its depend.
The conflict has additionally threatened to set off a wider regional battle, with the US asserting three of its troops killed in a strike blamed on Iran-backed militias in Jordan.
UNRWA staff
The Israeli doc, which has been shared with US officers and was obtained by The Related Press, lists 12 individuals, their alleged roles within the assault, job descriptions and images.
The doc mentioned intelligence gathered confirmed that at the least 190 UNRWA staff have been Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives, with out offering proof.
It mentioned of the 12 staff, 9 have been lecturers and one a social employee. Seven of the staff have been accused of crossing into Israel on October 7. Of these, two have been alleged to have kidnapped or assisted within the abduction of Israelis and one other two have been mentioned to have participated in raids on communal farming villages, based on the doc.
One was accused of arming himself with an anti-tank missile the evening earlier than the assault, whereas the doc claimed one other took images of a feminine hostage.
Some have been accused of “collaborating in a terror exercise” or coordinating the motion of vans or weapons used within the assault. Ten have been listed as having ties to Hamas and one to the Islamic Jihad militant group.
The names and images of the accused staff couldn’t instantly be verified.
Two of the 12 have been killed, based on the doc. The UN beforehand mentioned one was nonetheless being recognized.
The allegations have stoked longstanding tensions between Israel and UNRWA. Israel says Hamas makes use of the company’s amenities to retailer weapons or launch assaults. UNRWA says it doesn’t knowingly tolerate such habits and has inner safeguards to stop abuses and self-discipline any wrongdoing.
The company’s commissioner, Philippe Lazzarini, lately introduced that he was ordering an exterior evaluation of the company’s operations and its safeguards.
Israel has lengthy been vital of the company and accuses it of serving to to perpetuate the 76-year-old Palestinian refugee disaster. UNRWA says it cares for the huge wants of tens of millions of Palestinians throughout the Center East which have been sharply exacerbated by the most recent conflict.
Name to renew funding
The UN says the whole company shouldn’t be penalized by the alleged actions of the dozen staff, who it says can be held accountable if true. It has referred to as for the donors to renew funding.
The USA, the company’s largest donor, lower funding over the weekend, adopted by a number of different nations. Collectively, they offered greater than 60% of UNRWA’s price range in 2022.
UNRWA gives fundamental companies for Palestinian households who fled or have been pushed out of what’s now Israel in the course of the 1948 conflict surrounding the nation’s creation. The refugees and their descendants are nearly all of Gaza’s inhabitants.
Because the conflict started, many of the territory’s 2.3 million individuals depend upon the company’s packages for “sheer survival,” together with meals and shelter, Lazzarini mentioned.
1 / 4 of Gaza’s inhabitants is dealing with hunger as combating and Israeli restrictions hinder the supply of help, which has been nicely beneath the each day common of 500 vans earlier than the conflict.
Communications Director Juliette Touma warned that the company can be pressured to cease its assist in Gaza by the tip of February.
The allegations in opposition to staffers with the UN company for Palestinian refugees prompted Western nations to freeze funds important for the physique, which is a lifeline for determined Palestinians in Gaza. The UN fired 9 of the 12 accused staff and condemned “the abhorrent alleged acts” of employees members.
The accusations come after years of tensions between Israel and the company referred to as UNRWA over its work in Gaza, the place it employs roughly 13,000 individuals.
Regardless of the humanitarian disaster unfolding within the besieged territory – the place Israel’s conflict in opposition to Hamas has displaced the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants and officers say 1 / 4 of Palestinians are ravenous – main donors, together with the U.S. and Britain, have lower funding. On Monday, Japan and Austria joined them in pausing help.
With nearly all of its price range doubtful, UNRWA says it will likely be pressured to halt operations inside weeks if funding is not restored.
The risk to the UN company got here as Israel mentioned cease-fire talks held Sunday have been constructive however that “vital gaps” remained in any potential settlement. The talks are supposed to result in some respite to war-torn Gaza and safe the discharge of greater than 100 hostages nonetheless held within the territory.
Combating continued, additional complicating help to war-weary individuals in Gaza. Israel issued an evacuation order to residents within the western a part of Gaza Metropolis, urging them to go south. The order indicated that battles are nonetheless being waged in northern Gaza, an space Israel pummeled within the first weeks of the conflict and the place it had beforehand mentioned it held navy management.
The conflict was sparked with Hamas’ October 7 assault which killed 1,200 individuals, principally civilians, and noticed some 250 individuals taken captive, based on Israeli authorities.
The assault set off an intense air, sea and floor offensive that has killed greater than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them girls and minors, based on the Well being Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its depend.
The conflict has additionally threatened to set off a wider regional battle, with the US asserting three of its troops killed in a strike blamed on Iran-backed militias in Jordan.
UNRWA staff
The Israeli doc, which has been shared with US officers and was obtained by The Related Press, lists 12 individuals, their alleged roles within the assault, job descriptions and images.
The doc mentioned intelligence gathered confirmed that at the least 190 UNRWA staff have been Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives, with out offering proof.
It mentioned of the 12 staff, 9 have been lecturers and one a social employee. Seven of the staff have been accused of crossing into Israel on October 7. Of these, two have been alleged to have kidnapped or assisted within the abduction of Israelis and one other two have been mentioned to have participated in raids on communal farming villages, based on the doc.
One was accused of arming himself with an anti-tank missile the evening earlier than the assault, whereas the doc claimed one other took images of a feminine hostage.
Some have been accused of “collaborating in a terror exercise” or coordinating the motion of vans or weapons used within the assault. Ten have been listed as having ties to Hamas and one to the Islamic Jihad militant group.
The names and images of the accused staff couldn’t instantly be verified.
Two of the 12 have been killed, based on the doc. The UN beforehand mentioned one was nonetheless being recognized.
The allegations have stoked longstanding tensions between Israel and UNRWA. Israel says Hamas makes use of the company’s amenities to retailer weapons or launch assaults. UNRWA says it doesn’t knowingly tolerate such habits and has inner safeguards to stop abuses and self-discipline any wrongdoing.
The company’s commissioner, Philippe Lazzarini, lately introduced that he was ordering an exterior evaluation of the company’s operations and its safeguards.
Israel has lengthy been vital of the company and accuses it of serving to to perpetuate the 76-year-old Palestinian refugee disaster. UNRWA says it cares for the huge wants of tens of millions of Palestinians throughout the Center East which have been sharply exacerbated by the most recent conflict.
Name to renew funding
The UN says the whole company shouldn’t be penalized by the alleged actions of the dozen staff, who it says can be held accountable if true. It has referred to as for the donors to renew funding.
The USA, the company’s largest donor, lower funding over the weekend, adopted by a number of different nations. Collectively, they offered greater than 60% of UNRWA’s price range in 2022.
UNRWA gives fundamental companies for Palestinian households who fled or have been pushed out of what’s now Israel in the course of the 1948 conflict surrounding the nation’s creation. The refugees and their descendants are nearly all of Gaza’s inhabitants.
Because the conflict started, many of the territory’s 2.3 million individuals depend upon the company’s packages for “sheer survival,” together with meals and shelter, Lazzarini mentioned.
1 / 4 of Gaza’s inhabitants is dealing with hunger as combating and Israeli restrictions hinder the supply of help, which has been nicely beneath the each day common of 500 vans earlier than the conflict.
Communications Director Juliette Touma warned that the company can be pressured to cease its assist in Gaza by the tip of February.
