Details Emerge on U.N. Workers Accused of Aiding Hamas Raid
Israeli officials have presented evidence they say ties workers at a Palestinian aid agency in Gaza to violence during the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
One is accused of kidnapping a woman. Another is said to have handed out ammunition. A third was described as taking part in the massacre at a kibbutz where 97 people died. And all were said to be employees of the United Nations aid agency that schools, shelters and feeds hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The accusations are contained in a dossier provided to the United States government that details Israel’s claims against a dozen employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency who, it says, played a role in the Hamas attacks against Israel on Oct. 7 or in their aftermath.
The U.N. said on Friday that it had fired several employees after being briefed on the allegations. But little was known about the accusations until the dossier was reviewed on Sunday by The New York Times.
The accusations are what prompted eight countries, including the United States, to suspend some aid payment to UNRWA, as the agency is known, even as war plunges Palestinians in Gaza into desperate straits. More than 26,000 people have been killed there and nearly two million displaced, according to Gazan and U.N. officials.
The UNRWA workers have been accused of helping Hamas stage the attack that set off the war in Gaza, or of aiding it in the days after. Some 1,200 people in Israel were killed that day, Israeli officials say, and about 240 were abducted and taken to Gaza.
U.N. officials initially said all 12 employees were fired, but on Sunday, the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, said nine had been dismissed. Asked about Israel’s allegations on Sunday, UNRWA said that two of the 12 employees were dead but that it could not provide more information while the U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services was still investigating.
Thanks for the source despite the attitude. I wonder how those two died.
100+ UNRWA workers have been killed so far by IDF airstrikes. His source it false by the way, NYT saw no evidence, they just put a lie in the title for clickbait value and then corrected their lie in the paywalled article.
No worries. Quite possible they died during the attacks or later on during the bombing campaigns. Also possible they got mopped up by hamas, as they commonly do purges. But your guess is as good as mine.
Thanks for the source despite the attitude. I wonder how those two died.
100+ UNRWA workers have been killed so far by IDF airstrikes. His source it false by the way, NYT saw no evidence, they just put a lie in the title for clickbait value and then corrected their lie in the paywalled article.
They’re pretty clear on calling it accusations at least.
But the “presented” evidence was in fact not presented in the article. Nor anywhere else. Hidden would be a more fitting word.
No worries. Quite possible they died during the attacks or later on during the bombing campaigns. Also possible they got mopped up by hamas, as they commonly do purges. But your guess is as good as mine.