An internal U.N. probe into whether UNRWA staff took part in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel has closed one case, and suspended four others.
Investigators with the U.N.'s Office of Internal Oversight Services closed one case "as no evidence was provided by Israel to support the allegations against the staff member," said Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for U.N. Secretary General António Guterres.
Four other cases involving staff with the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA, were suspended because the information provided by Israel was not sufficient for OIOS to proceed with an investigation, he said.
OIOS, which serves as the U.N.'s internal watchdog, began investigating 12 of UNRWA's 30,000 staff members after the U.N. was informed of Israel's allegations against them in January.
The allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in Hamas' cross-border attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 people prompted widespread condemnation of the U.N. agency and led the United States and 15 other major donors to suspended about $450 million in funding for UNRWA, or almost half of its annual budget.
UNRWA's Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini quickly fired the 12 staff members, but Israel continued to urge the U.N. to disband the agency. The number of cases widened to 19 after the U.N. received information about five more staff in March, and two more in April.
'Productive' talks between U.N.'s OIOS and Israeli authorities
One of the original 12 cases was closed and three others were suspended, leaving eight staff members under OIOS investigation, Dujarric told a press briefing at U.N. headquarters in New York on Friday.
OIOS, however, is exploring "corrective administrative action" against the person involved in the closed case, he said. UNRWA hasn't decided what administrative actions to take for the three people whose investigations were suspended.
One of the additional seven cases brought to the U.N.'s attention since January has also been suspended "pending receipt of additional supporting evidence," he said.
That leaves 14 remaining cases under investigation by OIOS, according to Dujarric, who said OIOS investigators went to Israel to talk with Israeli authorities and will visit again in May.
"These discussions are continuing and have so far been productive and have enabled progress on the investigations," he said.
An independent review of UNRWA released earlier this week pointed to "neutrality-related issues" at the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, but offered no evidence that some of its staff were tied to militants in Gaza.
The nine-week review headed by Catherine Colonna, the former French foreign minister, did not directly investigate Israel's allegations but called them into question.
Since the start of Israel's retaliatory war on Hamas and bombardment of Gaza, at least 34,262 Palestinians, mostly women, children and other civilians, have been killed, according to U.N. figures that rely on the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
Nearly 180 UNRWA staffers have been killed during Israel's offensive in Gaza, Lazzarini said.
