Israeli allegations against UNRWA
In early 2024, Israel made a series of allegations against United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), including that a number of its Gaza Strip staff had participated in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, and that hundreds of them were members of militant groups.[1] The allegations led to aid cuts to the organization, most of which were later reversed with the exception of the United States, the organization's largest donor, after inquiries found the membership claims to be unsubstantiated.[2][3][4] The claims of participation in the attacks are being investigated, some already dismissed for lack of evidence.[5] UNRWA, which for decades had faced Israeli allegations surrounding its neutrality, is the largest relief organization in the Gaza Strip that is undergoing a humanitarian crisis and famine during the Israel-Hamas war.
In January 2024, Israel alleged that 12 UNRWA employees, 0.1% of its staff,[6]participated in the attacks in various capacities,[7][8][9] later expanding this claim to 19, alongside 400 personnel.[10] Israel also alleged that around ten percent of the UNRWA's 13,000 employees in the Gaza Strip have connections to Islamist militant groups, primarily Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and that 190 UNRWA employees were militants.[11] Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA, said the organization had dismissed the employees concerned,[a] and launched an investigation.[13][14][15][16] Lazzarini clarified on 9 February that he had fired the staff without looking into any evidence, deciding that swift action was the priority in the circumstances.[17] On 19 February, Lazzarini stated Israel had not provided any evidence to support its claim.[18] In late February, a US intelligence report cast doubt on the Israeli claims.[19] An UNRWA report from February 2024 stated that Israel coerced some of its employees to falsely admit Hamas links under torture.[20][21]
Immediately following the allegations several major donor countries suspended their funding, including the United States.[22] Several international organisations, including the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders, said the decision to suspend funding would exacerbate the humanitarian situation in Gaza caused by the Israeli invasion.[23] In response, some other Western countries – including Spain,[24] Portugal,[25][26] Ireland,[27][28] and Poland[29] – increased their funding of UNRWA. An independent Review Group led by Catherine Colonna published a report on 22 April 2024 finding that the agency had structures in place to ensure neutrality, although issues remain,[30] that Israel had not provided evidence for its claims of significant UNRWA employee involvement in terrorist organisations and that UNRWA is indispensable to Palestinians in the region. Following publication of the report, Germany announced that it would resume funding of UNRWA, following similar decisions made earlier other major donors, including Australia, Canada, Sweden and Japan.[31][32] The EU, which had suspended funding pending the outcome of the UNRWA investigations, restored and increased its funding on 1 March 2024 while Australia, Austria, Canada, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Finland are to resume funding.[33][34] On 23 March 2024, the US cut all UNRWA funding until March 2025.[35]
Background
Gaza–Israel conflict
Israel and Hamas take part in one of the world's longest-continuing conflicts.[36] After relatively calm years, death toll in the first half of 2023 climbed to the highest level since 2005.[37]
Response from UNRWA and the United Nations
On 26 January 2024, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated, "The Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on October 7."[85] He further emphasized, "To protect the agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay", adding that "any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror" would be held accountable.[85]
Lazzarini refrained from disclosing the number of employees allegedly involved in the attacks or the nature of their alleged involvement.[85] The US State Department reported the figure to be 12.[86] António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, said on 28 January that accusations had been made against 12 specific employees, and that of those 12 nine had been fired, one was dead, and the identities of the other two were still being confirmed.[87][88] On 26 April 2024, the UN disclosed that there were 19 allegations against agency staffers, one of which was closed for no evidence and 4 others for a lack of evidence. No end date for the investigation of the remaining 14 staffers has been given while investigators would visit Israel again in May. Of 12 initial cases, eight remain under investigation, three cases have been suspended and one staffer has been cleared. Of the seven additional cases, six remain under investigation and one has been suspended pending additional information.[89][90]
Guterres also said he was "horrified by this news",[38] and called the alleged activities "criminal".[91] His spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric further stated that the UN chief had directed Lazzarini to lead an investigation to ensure swift termination and potential criminal prosecution of any UNRWA employee implicated in or aiding 7 October attacks.[92] On 27 January, the deputy UN spokesperson stated, "UNRWA overall had had a strong record, which we have repeatedly underscored."[93]
In a further statement issued on 27 January, Lazzarini described the decision by nine countries to suspend the agency's funding as "shocking" and stated that both people's lives in Gaza and regional stability depended on that support;[94][95] he urged the nations to resume funding before UNRWA is "forced to suspend its humanitarian response".[96] According to a 28 January statement by Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, the decision to suspend funding could be a violation of the Genocide Convention, and "overtly defies" the provisional rulings in South Africa v. Israel.[97]
Chris Gunness, a former UNRWA chief spokesman, called on the Arab world, and in particular the oil-rich Gulf states, to fill the funding gap, saying that they are "making billions each day on oil revenues", and that a "tiny fraction" of that would resolve the funding shortfall.[98][b] A UNRWA spokesperson said that the funding suspensions would result in it being unable to continue aiding Gazans by the end of February.[100] On 29 February, the United Nations announced it still had not received any evidence from Israel to support its claims.[101]