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The United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency in the Near East (UNRWA), the main aid body in the Linkis in the eye of the storm. Israel accused some of its employees of being involved in attacks perpetrated by the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas on October 7 in Israeli territory. In retaliation, several countries, including the United States, announced the cut of their aid, which is essential to feed millions of civilians.
Although Israel did not publish details of his complaint, the UNRWA has already announced the dismissal of at least 12 of its employees as a result of the allegations.
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On Friday, an Israeli official told CNN that Israel shared information about 12 employees of UNRWA allegedly involved in the October 7 attacks. This information was delivered to both this body of the UN Such as U.S.
This Sunday, the North American newspaper The New York Times gave details of the complaint.
According to the NYT, UNRWA staff They kidnapped Israelistransported ammunition and the body of a dead Israeli soldier and participated in the deadly attack on a kibbutz during the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
The newspaper maintained that it had access to the report delivered to the U.S which states that a school counselor at the UNRWA in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, it is “accused of working with his son to kidnap a woman from Israel”.
“A social worker from Nuseirat, in the center of Linkis accused of helping to transport the body of a dead Israeli soldier to Gaza, as well as distributing ammunition and coordinating vehicles on the day of the attack,” the report also states, cited by the NYT.
Furthermore, a third employee of the UNRWA was “described as participant in the kibbutz massacre in which 97 people died.”
According to the NYT, the report Israel reveals the names, details and positions within UNRWA of 12 workers allegedly involved, and maintains that 10 of the workers in question are members of Hamas, while one belongs to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The report also maintains that seven of the accused were teachers in UNRWA schools and two worked in schools in different positions. The other three were described as employeeThe social worker it is a warehouse manager.
As Israel discovered the alleged involvement of workers at the UNRWA? According to the report, Israeli intelligence tracked the phones of six of the accusedand had access to the phone calls from other employees who allegedly spoke of their involvement in the attack. They also accessed the text messages received by three others, in which they were ordered to present themselves at the assembly points before the attack of Hamas for Israelincluding one in which he was required to carry RPG grenade launchers that were stored in his home.
In a statement released on Saturday, Hamas criticized the decision to terminate workers’ contracts and accused Israel of trying to undermine the UNRWA and other organizations providing humanitarian aid in Link.
Israel said on Saturday that it will try to end the presence in Link of the UN agency. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katzmaintained that the government wants to “guarantee that the UNRWA not be part” of the solution in the Palestinian territory after the war.
Katz He called on donors to favor agencies “that are sincerely dedicated to peace and development” and appealed to the director of UNRWAPhilippe Lazzarini, to step down.
“Mr Lazzarini, please resign,” he said. Katz Saturday night on social network X.
In turn, Lazzarini considered on Saturday “shocking to see that funds for the agency were suspended in reaction to accusations against a small group of its employees”, taking into account that measures have already been adopted and that “the survival of the agency depends on this help .” two million people” in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, the agency asked donor countries “don’t turn your back on Gaza” and “continue humanitarian aid”.
“The majority of Gazans depend UNRWA to survive”, said the organization in a statement in which it assured that 13 thousand of its employees “work tirelessly in unimaginable conditions” to deliver aid to the region.
After the complaint of Israelmore than a dozen countries announced the suspension of their aid to UNRWA.
Friday, The United States suspended funding to the UN agency. The State Department said it was “extremely concerned” about the suspicions surrounding UNRWA and “has temporarily suspended additional funding (…) while it examines these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”
Other countries that have suspended the delivery of funds are United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Austria, Italy, Finland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Japan.
For your part, Swiss said it conditions your help UNRWA to the final results of the investigation into its employees.
While Spain He emphasized that he will not cut his contributions.
The United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East It has played a fundamental role for millions of Palestinians since its creation in 1949 and is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from governments.
In 2022, funds from the UN regular budget and contributions from other UN entities amounted to 44.6 million dollars.
The top five donors are the United States, Germany, the European Union, Sweden and Norway. Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Switzerland also contribute.
O UNRWA It was created in December 1949 by the UN General Assembly after the first Arab-Israeli conflict that broke out after the creation of the Israel in May 1948, according to an analysis by the AFP agency.
Its role is to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestinian refugees in its area of operations, “pending a fair and lasting solution to their situation”.
More than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled their lands between April and August 1948, after the creation of the Israel, according to the UN. These people and their descendants have refugee status. O UNRWA became the sole international guarantor of its status.
The agency operates not only in the Palestinian territories, but also in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Around 5.9 million Palestinians are registered with the UNRWA and can benefit from services such as education, health, camp infrastructure, financing and emergency aid even in times of armed conflict, indicates the AFP.
The agency manages around 60 refugee camps, 19 of which are in the occupied West Bank.
More than 540 thousand children study in schools in the UNRWA.
At the Gaza strip There are 2.4 million Palestinians living there, of which 1.7 million have Palestinian status. refugees. Until the start of the war, on October 7, 63% of its inhabitants faced food insecurity and depended on international aid, and more than 80% lived in poverty, according to the UN.
Of the 30 thousand people employed by UNRWA13,000 work in the Gaza Strip, according to the organization’s website.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
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