The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fired 70 staff members working in Gaza after long-standing claims from Israeli authorities that the agency is a collaborator with the Hamas terrorist group."Today, the Commissioner-General ad interim of UNRWA, Christian Saunders, took the decision to terminate the employment of 70 UNRWA staff members in Gaza with immediate effect," UNRWA wrote in a Friday statement.UNRWA insisted its decision was not an admission of guilt, but one taken "to mitigate safety and security risks for the refugees the Agency serves under its mandate and for UNRWA personnel and premises."The agency claims it has "repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information and evidence to substantiate allegations against individual UNRWA staff members in Gaza but has received no response to date."ISRAEL SAYS UN MISLEADS WORLD AS GAZA AID STOLEN AND DIVERTED FROM CIVILIANS"The dismissal of the staff is not part of a disciplinary process and does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them," the UNRWA statement read.The firings follow a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investigation that referred more than 100 UNRWA staff members for suspension or dismissal.USAID's investigation, the results of which the agency published June 5, assessed that a number of UNRWA's employees were deeply enmeshed in Hamas' civil society and military operations.The investigation results included mention of "a deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion, a deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion" and "a teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas."The investigation also found numerous school teachers and principals it claimed to have participated directly in Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.Israeli authorities have long charged UNRWA with being directly tied to Hamas."Since October 7, evidence of numerous incidents of Hamas exploiting UNRWA infrastructure and UNRWA employees being involved in terrorist activity has been exposed. Civilians in Gaza have even stated that UNRWA is Hamas," the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a January web post.Additionally, the IDF claimed, citing intelligence findings, that "among the 12,521 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, at least 1,462 (12%) are members of Hamas or other designated terrorist organizations."UNRWA SCHOOLS ‘HIJACKED BY HAMAS,’ WATCHDOG REPORT WARNSIsrael's Foreign Ministry pushed back on UNRWA's defense framing and claims that Israel had not supplied evidence of… [TheTopNews] Read More.
2 days ago
