People walk past the damaged Gaza City headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on February 15, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
Israel's Defense minister has disclosed the identities of 12 people who he says "actively participated" in Hamas' Oct.7 attack while working for the United Nation's Palestinian agency, UNRWA.
Yoav Gallant claims that in addition to the two dozen identified, he has "significant indications based on intelligence, that over 30 UNRWA workers participated in the massacre" and "facilitated the taking of hostages." He made this comments during a briefing with foreign press, which was reported by Haaretz and the Times of Israel. He added that among those suspected to have taken part in the assault were teachers working at UNRWA schools.
Hamas' land, air, and sea al-Aqsa Flood operation on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, and 253 people were taken hostage — including civilians and soldiers.
'Proof' from Israel
On Feb. 6, British independent media company Channel 4 News revealed that no evidence had been provided by Israel in a document that persuaded the US and other donors to pull funding. The six-page dossier, seen by the news channel, found that Israel did not include concrete evidence, saying only that it had identified “more than 10 UNRWA staffers” via “intelligence information, documents and identity card seized during the course of the fighting.”
On Friday, Gallant published what he says is evidence of the identities of those involved in the attacks. He claims that of the 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza, "at least 12 percent" are affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad [PIJ], the Times of Israel reported.
“1,468 workers are known to be active in Hamas and PIJ. 185 UNRWA workers are active in the military branches of Hamas and 51 are active in the PIJ military branch,” he said.
According to Israeli media, Gallant described how a number of the accused UNRWA workers abducted a soldier from Kibbutz Be'eri. He also presented footage which he claimed was from the day of the attack showing Red Crescent medics treating a wounded "militant" inside an ambulance. He added that UNRWA has “lost legitimacy and can no longer function as a UN body."
UNRWA funding crisis
The UN agency for Palestinians has faced a funding crisis ever since several of its donors pulled funding in response to Israel's allegations.
Following the accusations, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini fired those allegedly involved, and the UN's oversight office is carrying out a investigation which is due in March. The agency employs 30,000 Palestinians across the region who serve almost six million Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and neighboring countries (Jordan, Syria and Lebanon).
On Feb. 1, UNRWA said that international funding cuts may force the shutdown of operations across the region "by the end of February." Meanwhile the Lebanon director of UNRWA, Dorothee Klaus, said that "operations would come to a halt during March." In Lebanon the agency provides cash assistance to 65 percent of the Palestinian refugee population.
On Tuesday, the head of Saudi Arabia's humanitarian agency told AFP that freezing funds to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees risked "aiding" the deaths of civilians in Gaza.
UNRWA, formally the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, was established in 1949 by the UN General Assembly after the war surrounding the founding of Israel as a Jewish state, when 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes.