The United Nations (U.N.) is acknowledging that nine members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) were likely involved in the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel. “For nine people, the evidence was sufficient to conclude that they may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks,” Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General, said.
At least 19 UNWRA staff members were initially accused of participating in the terrorist attacks. However, the U.N.‘s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) has concluded, following an investigation, that only nine staffers were likely involved.
“OIOS made findings in relation to each of the 19 UNRWA staff members alleged to have been involved in the attacks,” Haq stated, adding: “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.”
Following the Hamas attack, Israel accused UNRWA of directly employing 450 individuals tied to terrorist groups operating in Gaza. The National Pulse reported in January that Western nations donated over $8 billion to UNRWA between 2013 and 2022.
According to data compiled by UNRWA, in the ten years from 2013 to 2022, the United States gave $2,558,830,210, the European Union (EU) and its member states collectively gave $5,246,475,932, and Australia, Canada, and New Zealand gave a combined $313,429,066 to the controversial agency—a total of $8,118,735,208.
In May, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed to have recovered U.S.-made explosive charges from a UNRWA school in Jabalia, Gaza. Batch numbers found on the explosive charges indicated they were likely from a weapons sale the U.S. government made to Egpyt in 2007.
