UN links 9 employees to Israel attack
In nine cases, evidence obtained by OIOS indicated that UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the armed attacks
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In nine cases, evidence obtained by OIOS indicated that UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the armed attacks
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United Nations (UN) said Monday that nine employees of its agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) “may have been involved” in the 7 October attack on southern Israel by Hamas, which sparked war in Gaza, and 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.
Haq said the organization will need to evaluate any further steps to “fully corroborate” the allegations.
Haq was speaking after the UN’s oversight body, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), completed its investigation into the allegations earlier this year by Israel that a total of 19 UNRWA employees may have been involved in the attack.
“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 members’ involvement,” Haq said in a statement.
But in the other nine cases, “the evidence obtained by OIOS indicated that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October,” Haq said.
In a statement, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said those individuals “cannot work for UNRWA,” insisting that staff must respect its policies, insisting on the “humanitarian principle of neutrality.”
After the announcement, the international spokesperson for Israel’s army, Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani, said that UNRWA had “stooped to a new level of low.”
Stressing that UN internal investigations are confidential, Haq said he had no further information on the content of the accusations and evidence.
Investigators traveled to Israel to review Israeli information and to Amman to obtain information from UNRWA.
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