UNRWA AGENCY’S EMPLOYEES ACCUSED OF INVOLVEMENT IN HAMAS ATTACKS AGAINST ISRAEL – Several countries recently announced the suspension of funding to the UNRWA
Several countries recently announced the suspension of funding to the UNRWA after the agency’s employees were accused of involvement in Hamas attacks against Israel last October.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting on the current Palestinian-Israeli situation and other issues. After the meeting, the representative of France, the rotating presidency of the Security Council, said at a press conference that the Security Council expressed concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The United States House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on the UNRWA mission amid allegations that some of UNRWA’s staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, on Tuesday (January 30).
Richard Goldberg, a witness at the hearing and senior advisor for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said, “UNRWA is a part of what happened on October 7th and it will keep happening again and again if we keep funding it.”
The accusations became public on Friday when UNRWA announced it had fired some staff after Israel provided the agency with information. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that of 12 people implicated nine were fired, one is dead, and the identity of the remaining two was being clarified.
The United States – UNRWA’s biggest donor – temporarily paused its funding, along with a cascade of other countries.