The United Nations says nine staff members of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, may have been involved in last October’s attack by Hamas on Israel.
The UN’s independent investigative body submitted a report to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday. The UN said the content will not be made public, but that the nine local staff will be dismissed.
The Office of Internal Oversight Services has been investigating 19 area staff members at Israel’s request.
The UN said the investigation involved actions such as reviewing email records and information on UNRWA vehicles. But it said information used by Israeli officials to support the allegations remained in Israeli custody, meaning OIOS was unable to independently authenticate most of it.
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq noted that “any involvement in these attacks would constitute a major betrayal of trust.”
But he added that they should keep in mind that a huge number of UNRWA staff have been taking enormous risks to keep hundreds of thousands of people alive by helping provide food and services.