Nine UNRWA employees fired, 10 cleared over 7 Oct attacks

UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees, has announced the firing of nine employees following the conclusion of an internal investigation into Israeli allegations that 19 UNRWA staff members had participated in the Hamas-led 7 October attacks into Israel last year.

The investigation, carried out by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the UN’s highest investigative body, found no evidence or insufficient evidence of involvement in 10 cases. In nine other cases it determined that “the UNRWA staff members may have been involved” in the attacks. 

Announcing the findings on Monday, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq noted that because “information used by Israeli officials to support the allegations have remained in Israeli custody, OIOS was not able to independently authenticate most of the information provided to it”.

When Israel first made the allegations in January, more than a dozen donors suspended their funding to UNRWA, precipitating a major crisis for the agency.

The results of an independent review released in April found that UNRWA has the “most elaborate” mechanism and procedures for safeguarding humanitarian neutrality of any UN agency and said Israel had not provided evidence to support broader allegations it made that a significant number of UNRWA employees were members of Hamas.

An UNRWA report, also released in April, alleged that UNRWA employees detained by the Israeli military in Gaza were subjected to ill-treatment and torture and were pressured into making false confessions about affiliations between the agency and Hamas and about UNRWA staff being involved in the 7 October attacks.

Except for the United States, all of the donors who suspended funding have since reinstated their contributions.

With around 13,000 staff in the Gaza Strip, UNRWA is by far the largest humanitarian agency in the enclave, and its personnel, equipment, and facilities have been critical to the effort to respond to the staggering levels of displacement and need caused by Israel’s 10-month-long military campaign. Over 200 UNRWA employees have been killed since Israel launched its campaign in response to the 7 October attacks – the highest death toll in UN history. 

UNRWA also operates in the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, providing services ranging from education and healthcare to food aid and microfinance loans. Some 5.9 million Palestinian refugees are eligible for its services.

Israeli politicians have been transparent about their desire to see UNRWA dismantled.

For a deep-dive into the history of the agency, read: