The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, has thanked the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia and Finland for suspending funding to the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), for the alleged collusion of several members of the organization with the Islamist group Hamas.
“I call for more nations to join together. UNRWA’s ties to Hamas, providing safe haven to terrorists and perpetuating its rule are undeniable. UNRWA leaders must be removed and thoroughly investigated,” Katz said.
Israel has provided the UN with information that would show that a dozen UNRWA workers participated in the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, which included the launching of thousands of rockets and the simultaneous infiltration of militiamen who massacred some 1,200 people and They kidnapped another 250 in Israeli towns near Gaza.
“We have been warning for years: UNRWA perpetuates the refugee issue, obstructs peace and serves as the civilian arm of Hamas,” Katz said, assuring that he will work to ensure that UNRWA is not part of the operation of the strip after the war.
UNRWA announced on Friday the immediate dismissal of several members of its staff and the start of an investigation “to establish the truth” and “to protect the agency’s ability to provide assistance” in Gaza, where 85% of the population is displaced and experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
The United States, Israel’s main partner and arms supplier, said it was “extremely concerned” by the accusations against UNRWA and was the first country to temporarily suspend funding to the agency while it investigates and determines the measures that the United Nations will take. they will take
With more than 30,000 employees, UNRWA is the largest organization in Gaza outside the Gaza Government.
The Israeli offensive has left more than 26,257 dead and 64,797 injured in the Palestinian enclave, while survivors face an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry expressed “great astonishment at the measures taken by some countries before the United Nations investigations are completed” and demanded that they be “withdrawn immediately, in accordance with the law.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry estimates that, even if it is confirmed that some UNRWA workers cooperated with Hamas, “it should not harm” the organization or its humanitarian missions.
“Any misconduct on the part of some UNRWA employees does not reflect its policy, the directives and instructions of its officials, nor the credibility of the work serving Palestinian refugees,” he argued. The Palestinian ministry added that Israel is carrying out a “systematic campaign of incitement against UNRWA,” citing the recent attack on an agency shelter in Gaza that left 13 dead and 75 wounded.
Hamas, for its part, denied that UN personnel collaborate with its militia actions. “We strongly condemn the campaign of incitement launched by the Zionist criminal entity against the international institutions that contribute to the relief of our people, who are being subjected to the Nazi genocide,” the Islamist group said in a statement.
Israeli ambassador to the UN, Meirav Eilon Shahar, accused the World Health Organization of aligning itself with Hamas. The organization’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, rejected it: “Such false accusations are harmful and can harm the staff (in Gaza), who risk their lives to serve the most vulnerable.”
