Since Israel made its first accusations in January – leading major donors, including the United States, to suspend support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East -East (UNRWA) – he made allegations concerning seven others UNRWA staff members, Dujarric said. There were five in March and two in April. Of those cases, the investigation into one “has also been suspended pending additional supporting evidence,” Dujarric said. “The other six cases are currently under investigation.”
Investigators from the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services have traveled to Israel to meet with Israeli authorities and are expected to travel again in May, Dujarric said.
The first 12 aid workers were immediately fired by UNRWA, although two of them were reportedly killed during the fighting in Gaza. Among these cases, the United Nations is considering administrative measures to take in the case that has been elucidated and in the three cases for which investigations have been suspended. The employees involved in the seven new cases have been placed on unpaid administrative leave.
Israel has long called for the dismantling of UNRWA, saying Palestinians displaced decades ago by the creation of the state of Israel and their descendants should not be considered refugees. On several occasions since the October attacks, Israel has publicly stated that many of the 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza – almost all of whom are Palestinians – have ties to Hamas and other groups. activists.
According to an independent assessment of UNRWA’s procedures for ensuring the neutrality of its employees, released earlier this week, Israel has failed to provide evidence that a significant number of the humanitarian agency’s workers have ties to these groups.
A number of governments had already reversed their initial suspension of funding to the agency, and others followed after the report – led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna – essentially gave a clean bill of health for the organization, as well as recommendations for improvement.
The U.S. intelligence community did not question, but could not verify, Israel’s claims about UNRWA employees on October 7, U.S. officials told the Washington Post in February, citing the lack of independent information.
In response to the Colonna report, Israel again claimed – without evidence – that more than 2,135 UNRWA employees belong to either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and that “one-fifth of UNRWA school administrators are members of Hamas.
The Biden administration has called UNRWA “indispensable” for providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, but all U.S. support has been banned until March next year in a funding bill passed by Congress last month. The United States has long been UNRWA’s largest donor, providing nearly half of its budget.
Here’s what else to know
- US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there was “new momentum, new life” in the hostage and ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. His remarks to MSNBC came as an Egyptian delegation visited Israel after Israel’s war cabinet met to discuss hostage deal negotiations, and Hamas said it was reviewing Israel’s latest offer.
- Washington has not decided whether to cut aid to an Israeli military unit accused of human rights violations, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations. The expected decision is the subject of major tensions with Israel. The Netzah Yehuda Battalion, made up of ultra-Orthodox soldiers, faced accusations of abuse against Palestinians before the Gaza war, according to Israeli media.
- UN officials have received reports that at least two children have died due to extreme heat in Gaza.said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini in a statement. Gaza experienced an unusual heat wave, with temperatures hovering around 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the United Nations.
- Premature Palestinian baby delivered by emergency C-section after mother was fatally injured dies in Gaza after five days in an incubator, the Associated Press reported. Sabreen Jouda died in a Gaza hospital after her health deteriorated, her uncle told the AP. Doctors had operated to save Sabreen after her parents – including her mother, who was seven months pregnant – and sister were killed last week in an Israeli airstrike, the Post reported.
- At least 34,356 people killed and 77,368 injured in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that around 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 Hamas attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 261 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
Claire Parker, John Hudson and Michael Birnbaum contributed to this report.
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