UN agency employees sackedover ‘roles’ in Oct. 7 attack
JERUSALEM—The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday it had sacked several employees accused by Israel of involvement in Hamas’s unprecedented Oct. 7 attack, prompting the United States to suspend critical funding.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), made the announcement of the sacking as the World Health Organization (WHO) denied accusations by Israel that it was in “collusion” with Hamas.
Lazzarini said the decision to remove the UNRWA’s employees had been taken “to protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance.”
“Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” he said.
Israeli authorities had provided information about the staff members’ alleged involvement, he said.
UN chief Antonio Guterres “is horrified” by the accusations and an “urgent and comprehensive independent review of UNRWA will be conducted,” said his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
The US State Department said it was “extremely troubled” by the allegations and has “temporarily paused additional funding” while it reviewed the claims and the UN’s plan to address concerns.
Twelve employees “may have been involved,” it added.
The United States was the agency’s biggest bilateral donor in 2022, contributing more than $340 million, according to UNRWA’s website.
‘False claims’
The WHO on Friday denied Israel’s charges that it had colluded with Hamas by ignoring Israeli evidence of the group’s “military use” of hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said that such “false claims” could endanger the UN health agency’s staff on the ground.
He was responding to statements made Thursday by Israeli ambassador Meirav Eilon Shahar at a meeting of the WHO’s board.
“WHO refutes Israel’s accusation at the executive board meeting yesterday that WHO is in ‘collusion’ with Hamas and is ‘turning a blind eye’ to the suffering of hostages being held in Gaza,” Tedros said on X.
He insisted that “WHO is impartial and is working for the health and well-being of all people.”
Israel charges that Hamas is embedding itself in hospitals in the Gaza Strip and has been using civilians as human shields in the Palestinian territory.
In “every single hospital that the IDF searched in Gaza, it found evidence of Hamas’ military use,” Eilon Shahar said Thursday.
‘Undeniable facts’
“These are undeniable facts that WHO chooses to ignore time and time again. This is not incompetence; it is collusion.”
And following Tedros’ comment, she doubled down.
“There is clear evidence of the use of hospitals by Hamas,” Eilon Shahar wrote on X Friday evening.
There was also evidence, she said, of “the fact that hostages were taken to medical institutions after the brutal massacre of Oct. 7.”
“This includes first hand accounts and CCTV footage. These are not ‘false claims.’ They are facts. Yet you have said nothing.”
The Israeli ambassador warned WHO that “by not condemning Hamas or taking any action to prevent them embedding themselves in hospitals and civilian areas, you are putting those who you are supposed to protect in harms way.”
“They deserve better.”
War erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamas and other militants from Gaza launched unprecedented attacks on Israel which claimed about 1,140 lives, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 250 hostages, and Israel says around 132 remain in Gaza. That number includes at least 28 dead hostages, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel, in response, launched a relentless military offensive that the Palestinian territory’s health ministry says has killed more than 26,000 people.
On Thursday, Tedros was moved to tears as he addressed the WHO’s executive board.
‘Long overdue’
The fact that 70 percent of the fatalities in the Gaza Strip have been women and children should be motive enough to bring about a “long overdue” ceasefire, he said.
“If we look for a solution it’s always possible,” he added, after pausing to compose himself. “It’s only the will that’s required.”
Tedros occasionally becomes emotional when speaking about the impact of war on children, citing his own early years in Ethiopia.
“I am a true believer because of my own experience that war doesn’t bring solutions except more war, more hatred, more agony, more destruction,” he said Thursday, wiping his eyes.
“I’m struggling to speak because … the situation is beyond words.”
