JERUSALEM (AP) — The United Nations stated Monday it has fired additional personnel participants from its agency for Palestinian refugees after an interior investigation came across they would perhaps simply had been eager with the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
The U.N. secretary-general’s office launched the movement in a temporary assertion to journalists. Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general, did no longer account for on the UNRWA staffers’ most likely role in the attack or on the proof that triggered its option.
UNRWA beforehand fired 12 staffers and build seven staffers on administrative ride away without pay over the claims. The community of 9 staffers the U.N. launched it had fired Monday entails some from each and every community, stated Juliette Touma, communications director for UNRWA.
The U.N. did no longer elaborate how many contain now been fired from the agency in complete.
The U.N.’s interior watchdog has been investigating the agency since Israel in January accused 12 UNRWA staffers of being eager with the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, by which militants killed 1,200 other individuals and kidnapped some 250 others.
Israel’s allegations on the origin led high donor countries to suspend their funding for UNRWA. That triggered a money crunch of about $450 million dollars. Since then, all donor countries other than for the US contain made up our minds to resume funding.
Oren Marmorstein, the spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on X following the announcement of the firings that Israel was once more calling for donor countries to suspend funding “as the funds would possibly simply match to terrorist components.”
“UNRWA is a part of the misfortune and no longer part of the solution, and anybody who seeks basically the most efficient interests of Israel, the Gaza Strip and the plan must aloof act to interchange UNWRA’s actions with diversified agencies,” he wrote.
The U.N. watchdog charged with investigating UNRWA, known as the Place of job of Interior Oversight Services and products, stated it drew on proof provided by Israel in discussions with Israeli authorities. It stated it would no longer independently corroborate that proof because it did no longer contain swear procure entry to to it. The investigators additionally reviewed interior UNRWA knowledge, along with personnel information, electronic mail and diversified communications information.
It stated it came across ample proof pointing to 9 employees’ attainable involvement in the Oct. 7 attack.
An Israeli reliable with knowledge of the discussions, who requested anonymity on sage of he was no longer authorized to temporary the media, stated that Israeli authorities spent hours on each and every accused UNRWA staffer when briefing U.N. investigators on their findings.
“I even contain made up our minds that in the case of those closing 9 personnel participants, they’ll’t work for UNRWA,” the agency’s head Philippe Lazzarini stated in an announcement.
“The agency’s priority is to continue lifesaving and excessive companies for Palestine refugees in Gaza and across the plan, namely in the face of the ongoing struggle, the instability and anguish of regional escalation,” stated Lazzarini, who additionally stated he condemned the Oct. 7 attack.
In 9 diversified cases, the proof was insufficient, and in one diversified case there was no proof pointing to involvement.
UNRWA has been the fundamental agency distributing encourage to Palestinians in Gaza at some stage in the 10-month used struggle there, which Gaza Smartly being officers express has killed over 39,600 other individuals and unleashed a mass humanitarian misfortune.
Israel has escalated requires the agency’s shutdown on sage of the struggle began. It has prolonged accused UNRWA of taking part with Hamas and turning a blind thought to the militant community’s actions. At some stage in the struggle, it has launched pictures of tunnels constructed next to UNRWA companies and charged that many extra UNRWA staffers than those which had been fired are participants of militant teams.
At some stage in the struggle, a long way-correct protesters demonstrating against the agency contain situation parts of the its facility in Jerusalem ablaze.
UNRWA denies taking part with Hamas. The agency says that extra than 200 UNRWA staffers had been killed, and 190 of the agency’s installations had been damaged at some stage in the struggle — along with U.N.-bustle colleges which had been changed into shelters for displaced Palestinians.
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AP reporter Jade Lozada contributed reporting from the United Nations
