Cairo: The United Nations announced that nine staff members from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) are suspected of involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and will be dismissed.
Deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq stated, “For nine people, the evidence was sufficient to conclude that they may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks.” This follows the completion of an investigation by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) into allegations concerning 19 UNRWA staff members.
“OIOS made findings in relation to each of the 19 UNRWA staff members alleged to have been involved in the attacks,” Haq explained. He further noted that in one instance, no evidence supported the allegation against the staff member, while in nine cases, the evidence was deemed insufficient to confirm involvement.
Haq emphasized that the nine individuals identified as potentially involved were all men, though he did not specify their actions. He remarked, “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.”
The investigation was initiated following Israel’s allegations that 12 UNRWA staff were implicated in the October 7 attacks, which ignited the Gaza war. Israel’s claims intensified in March, with accusations that over 450 UNRWA staff were affiliated with Gaza-based terrorist groups. UNRWA employs 32,000 people across its operational regions, with 13,000 based in Gaza.
In March, UNRWA contended that some employees released from Israeli detention had reported being coerced by Israeli authorities into falsely asserting that the agency had links to Hamas and that its staff were involved in the October 7 attacks.
