Israel Particulars Claims Towards U.N. Staff It Says Aided Hamas

One is accused of kidnapping a lady. One other is claimed to have handed out ammunition. A 3rd was described as collaborating within the bloodbath at a kibbutz the place 97 individuals died. And all had been mentioned to be workers of the United Nations help company that colleges, shelters and feeds a whole bunch of 1000’s of Palestinians within the Gaza Strip.

The accusations are contained in a file offered to the US authorities that particulars Israel’s claims towards a dozen workers of the United Nations Aid and Works Company who, it says, performed a job within the Hamas assaults towards Israel on Oct. 7 or of their aftermath.

The U.N. mentioned on Friday that it had fired a number of workers after being briefed on the allegations. However little was recognized concerning the accusations till the file was reviewed on Sunday by The New York Instances.

The accusations are what prompted eight nations, together with the US, to droop some help cost to the UNRWA, because the company is thought, whilst struggle plunges Palestinians in Gaza into determined straits. Greater than 26,000 individuals have been killed there and practically two million displaced, in response to Gazan and U.N. officers.

The UNRWA staff have been accused of serving to Hamas stage the assault that set off the struggle in Gaza, or of aiding it within the days after. Some 1,200 individuals in Israel had been killed that day, Israeli officers say, and about 240 had been kidnapped and brought to Gaza.

On Sunday, the United Nations secretary basic, António Guterres, described himself as “horrified by these accusations” and famous that 9 of the 12 accused workers had been fired. However Mr. Guterres implored these nations that had suspended their help funds to rethink. UNRWA is likely one of the largest employers in Gaza, with 13,000 individuals, principally Palestinians, on employees.

Requested about Israel’s allegations on Sunday, UNRWA mentioned that two of the 12 workers had been useless however that it couldn’t present extra data whereas the U.N.’s Workplace of Inside Oversight Providers was nonetheless investigating.

Two Western officers confirmed on the situation of anonymity that that they had been briefed on the contents of the file in latest days, however mentioned that they had not been in a position to confirm the small print. Though the US has but to corroborate the Israeli claims itself, American officers say they discovered them credible sufficient to warrant suspending help.

The Instances verified the id of one of many 12 workers, a storeroom supervisor, whose social media profile lists him as an UNRWA worker and exhibits him sporting U.N.-branded garments.

The Israeli file, offered to U.S. officers on Friday, lists the names and jobs of the UNRWA workers and the allegations towards them.

The file mentioned that Israeli intelligence officers had established the actions of six of the lads inside Israel on Oct. 7 based mostly on their telephones; others had been monitored whereas making telephone calls inside Gaza throughout which, the Israelis say, they mentioned their involvement within the Hamas assault.

Three others bought textual content messages ordering them to report back to muster factors on Oct. 7, and one was instructed to deliver rocket-propelled grenades saved at his dwelling, in response to the file.

The Israelis described 10 of the staff as members of Hamas, the militant group that managed Gaza on the time of the Oct. 7 assault. One other was mentioned to be affiliated with one other militant group, Islamic Jihad.

But seven of the accused had been additionally mentioned to be lecturers at UNRWA colleges, instructing college students in topics like math and Arabic. Two others labored on the colleges in different capacities. The remaining three had been described as a clerk, a social employee and the storeroom supervisor.

Essentially the most detailed accusations within the file involved a college counselor from Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, who’s accused of working together with his son to abduct a lady from Israel.

A social employee from Nuseirat, in central Gaza, is accused of serving to to deliver the physique of a useless Israeli soldier to Gaza, in addition to distributing ammunition and coordinating autos on the day of the assault.

The Israeli accusations come towards the backdrop of decades-long frictions with UNRWA. Since 1949, the company has cared for the households of Palestinians who fled or had been pressured from their properties throughout the wars surrounding the creation of the state of Israel.

The group offers important help to greater than 5 million Palestinian refugees scattered throughout the Center East, whose future and standing have by no means been resolved regardless of years of negotiations.

However to its critics, together with many Israelis, the company is an impediment to resolving the battle. Its very existence, they are saying, prevents Palestinian refugees from integrating into new communities and stokes their desires of in the future returning to what’s now Israel — a objective that Israel says it’s going to by no means permit. And in Gaza, Israel argues, UNRWA has fallen underneath the affect of Hamas, a declare the company rejects.

This isn’t the primary time the US has reduce off cash to the U.N. company. The Trump administration suspended help as half its efforts to stress the Palestinian management to cease demanding that refugees be allowed to return to Israel.

However the present risk to its funding is taken into account to be the gravest in its historical past as a result of it comes at a time of disaster for Gaza.

Amid warnings of famine, the collapse of the well being system and the large displacement of the Palestinian inhabitants, UNRWA’s work is taken into account extra essential than ever. It helps coordinate the distribution of the provides of help — nevertheless meager — that arrive every day in southern Gaza, and its colleges present shelter to greater than 1,000,000 Gazans, in response to the company’s statistics.

The funding suspensions could also be felt rapidly. In contrast to different U.N. businesses, UNRWA has no strategic monetary reserve. On Sunday, Mr. Guterres mentioned companies may have to be lowered starting in February.

A day earlier, the company’s commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, warned of impending disaster.

“It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region,” he mentioned.

“The lives of people in Gaza depend on this support, and so does regional stability,” Mr. Lazzarini mentioned.

The State Division on Friday acknowledged the vital humanitarian position performed by UNRWA however mentioned it was suspending its funding whereas it assessed each the allegations and the company’s response to them.

Israeli officers themselves had been involved on Sunday about whether or not their accusations may ultimately make their very own place harder, in response to three officers concerned within the dialogue. A collapse within the supply of companies to Gaza may power Israel to shoulder a higher position in operating help distribution — a job it doesn’t need.

Reviews concerning the accusations towards the help staff got here on the identical day that the Worldwide Court docket of Justice issued an interim ruling on accusations of genocide which have been leveled towards Israel by South Africa. The court ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide by its forces in Gaza and to permit extra help into the territory.

Reporting was contributed by Johnatan Reiss, Julian E. Barnes, Gabby Sobelman and Myra Noveck.