UN says 9 Gaza aid members may have been involved in October 7 Hamas attack

The United Nations on Monday stated that nine staff members of its relief agency in Gaza may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The UN said these staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) will be terminated.

“For nine people, the evidence was sufficient to conclude that they may have been involved in the October 7 attacks,” Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, coordinating armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza Envelope of southern Israel. In the biggest escalation in decades, close to 1,200 people were killed, and many were taken captive. Israel retaliated with a full-blown war.

The Spokesperson said that the Office of Internal Oversight Services, which had completed its investigation into the allegations of 19 UNRWA staff members in the attacks, has obtained the evidence.

“OIOS made findings in relation to each of the 19 UNRWA staff members alleged to have been involved in the attacks. In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff member’s involvement,” he said.

In January this year, Israel raised allegations that the aid agency’s staff were part of the October 7 attack. Israel had also charged 12 UNRWA staff members, accusing them of involvement in the onslaught. These allegations led to a freeze in funding by many donors to the agency. The UN launched an investigation following these accusations.

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