Akm Shehabuddin Kisslu:The United Nations said Monday it has fired additional staff members from its agency for Palestinian refugees after an internal investigation found they may have been involved in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
The investigation has found that nine employees from its main agency for Palestinian humanitarian relief, UNWRA, “may have” been involved in the October 7 attack and no longer work at the agency.
UNRWA previously fired 12 staffers and put seven staffers on administrative leave without pay over the claims. The group of nine staffers the U.N. announced it had fired Monday includes some from each group, said Juliette Touma, communications director for UNRWA.
The U.N. 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 attack or on the evidence that prompted its decision.
“The evidence obtained by OIOS indicated that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October 2023,” OIOS said in a statement. In nine other cases, OIOS said that the evidence was “insufficient” for the employees to be fired, but that “appropriate measures will be taken in due course.” In the final case, “no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement.”
In a statement on Monday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that his agency’s “priority is to continue lifesaving and critical services for Palestine Refugees in Gaza and across the region, especially in the face of the ongoing war, the instability and risk of regional escalation.”
“UNRWA is committed to continue upholding the fundamental principles and values of the United Nations, including the humanitarian principle of neutrality, and to ensuring that its entire staff abides by the Agency’s policy on outside and political activities ” he said.
The investigation was launched in January after Israel accused some UNRWA employees of participating in the attack that left 1,200 people in Israel dead. Israel accused further employees of involvement in March and April.
UN investigators were not able to speak with the accused, though some accused responded to written questions.
UNRWA has 14,000 staff members in Gaza.
The U.N. has fired nine employees following a lengthy investigation into ties to the Oct. 7 attacks, the organization said.
OIOS investigators met with Israeli officials as part of their investigation and review their intelligence. They also reviewed UNRWA employees’ communications and media reports.
“Because of safety concerns,” they did not meet with the accused UNRWA staff or corroborating witnesses.
