a French association files a complaint against UNRWA, which it accuses of crimes against humanity

The France-Israel-Alliance Général Koenig association filed this complaint with the creation of a civil party with the crimes against humanity division of the Paris judicial court.

A French association accuses the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and its employees of crimes against humanity and complicity. The France-Israel-Alliance Général Koenig association filed this complaint with the constitution of a civil party with the crimes against humanity unit of the Paris judicial court, AFP learned on Wednesday February 21 from its lawyer.

In this complaint, filed on February 9, the association mentions a “ambivalence” towards the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip. For the association’s lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminski, it is “sufficiently proven that UNRWA had information on the involvement of its employees alongside the Hamas terrorist movement” at the time of the attacks in Israel on October 7.

This procedure aims to obtain the appointment of an investigating judge. The time limit for actually opening any possible judicial investigation is often several months.

Ongoing investigations

The main humanitarian aid organization in the Gaza Strip, a territory in the grip of a serious humanitarian crisis, UNRWA is the subject of accusations of complicity with Hamas from Israel, which claims that 12 employees of the The UN agency, which has 13,000 employees in the Gaza Strip, is believed to be involved in the terrorist attack which caused around 1,160 deaths in Israel, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures. In the wake of these accusations, several countries, notably the United States and Great Britain, have suspended their funding of UNRWA.

Israel notably assured that one of the tunnels used by Hamas had been discovered under the agency’s headquarters in Gaza, asking the agency’s boss, Frenchman Philippe Lazzarini, to resign. The latter replied that the tunnel was 20 meters underground, making it impossible for UNRWA to discover such an installation.

Asked by AFP, Juliette Touma, UNRWA communications director, said on Wednesday that an investigation “concerning all the allegations relating to our employees and October 7” was in progress. “We also have an ongoing review of other types of accusations similar to the previous ones which is being led by the former French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna,” she added.