Following a probe by the UN oversight body, nine individuals have been fired, spokesperson says.
The United Nations says nine employees of UNRWA, its agency for Palestinian refugees, “may have been involved” in the October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, adding that they have been fired.
“We have sufficient information in order to take the actions that we’re taking – which is to say, the termination of these nine individuals,” UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday.
Haq said the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will need to evaluate any further steps to “fully corroborate”.
Haq was speaking after the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) completed its investigation into the allegations earlier this year by Israel that a total of 19 UNRWA employees were involved in the attack.
“OIOS made findings in relation to each of the 19 UNRWA staff members alleged to have been involved in the attacks,” Haq said.
“In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff member’s involvement,” he said.
Haq said all the nine individuals who the investigation concluded may have been involved were men.
He did not give details of what they may have done, but said: “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.”
Reacting to the news, Israel’s army said UNRWA had hit a “new level of low”.
“Your ‘relief’ agency has officially stooped to a new level of low, and it is time that the world sees your true face,” Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani, the army’s international spokesperson, said on X.
Following the Israeli allegations, many governments, including top donor the United States, abruptly suspended funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver aid in Gaza. Several countries have since resumed payments.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and more than 200 others taken captives.
Since then, Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 39,550 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
UNRWA, which has provided essential aid for Palestinian refugees since 1949, has long been criticised by Israel.
Israel stepped up its accusations in March, saying that more than 450 UNRWA staff were military operatives in Gaza “terrorist” groups. UNRWA employs 32,000 people across its area of operations, 13,000 of them in Gaza.
UNWRA said in March that some employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that the agency has Hamas links and that staff took part in the October 7 attacks.
Earlier this year, UNRWA’s chief Philippe Lazzarini called for Israel to “stop its campaign” against the organisation, citing “outrageous” attacks on its employees, facilities and operations.