According to the UN, nine UNRWA employees “may have been involved” in the October 7 attack

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is back in the storm. Neight UNRWA staff members “could have been involved” in the Hamas attacks of October 7, according to the UN’s internal investigation into 19 people accused by Israel. For these nine people, “Evidence obtained by OIOS (the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services) indicates that UNRWA employees may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October”said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, on Monday, August 5, specifying that the agency would terminate their contract.

Stressing that investigations by the UN’s internal services are confidential, he did not give further details on the content of the evidence. But “We have enough information to take the actions we are taking, which is the dismissal of these nine individuals.”he added. “Beyond that, we will need to assess what additional steps are needed to fully corroborate and evaluate” information.

At the end of January, Israeli authorities had accused twelve employees of the UN agency of involvement in the October 7 attack carried out by the Islamist group. Seven other names were subsequently added to the list. In response to this criticism, an investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services was opened in early February. For one person, “no evidence was obtained by the BSCI to support the accusations” and in nine other cases, the evidence “was insufficient to support the involvement of employees”said Antonio Guterres’ deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq.