Due to the lack of evidence, the United Nations announced that it has closed or suspended five out of 19 cases against employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) accused by Israel of involvement in Hamas attacks on October 7. The office of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Friday that the Office of Internal Oversight had "investigated 19 UNRWA employees." This includes the first 12 employees identified by Israel in January, whose contracts were "terminated," along with seven others reported later.
Regarding the twelve employees, "one case has been closed because Israel did not provide any evidence supporting the allegations against the employee," and "three other cases have been suspended because the information provided by Israel was insufficient for the Office of Internal Oversight to conduct an investigation." As for the other seven employees, "one case has been suspended pending the receipt of additional evidence," according to the spokesperson's office. In total, 14 employees are still under investigation.
The same source noted that investigators visited Israel to discuss matters with the authorities, and another visit is planned for May. These discussions were described as "constructive" and "helped advance the investigations." The allegations have led to disruptions in UNRWA's activities and a decrease in its funding, while the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip faces a humanitarian catastrophe, including widespread hunger risks.
These announcements come shortly after the release of a report from an independent assessment mission regarding UNRWA's "neutrality" in Gaza. This investigation, conducted by experts under the supervision of former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, concluded that the agency suffers from "problems related to political neutrality," but Israel has yet to provide "evidence" of alleged links of certain employees to "terrorist organizations." The report also emphasized that "UNRWA is indispensable for human and economic development" for Palestinian refugees in Gaza as well as in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli accusations have led many donor countries to suspend their funding to UNRWA. Several countries have since resumed funding, but the United States, Israel's primary ally, has not done so. UNRWA employs over 30,000 staff serving 5.9 million Palestinians in the region.
