About 1,200 employees of the UN’s Palestinian refugee aid agency have ties to Hamas, and thousands more of them are closely linked to members of Gaza terror groups, according to an Israeli dossier.
The damning report – drawn up through interrogations of Hamas terrorists and documents recovered in Gaza – alleges that around 10% of the 12,000 workers at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza have links to Hamas or Jihad. Islamic Palestine, said the Wall Street Journal.
Among all agency workers, nearly half (or about 6,000) have close relatives in the militant organizations that have ruled Gaza since 2007, according to intelligence provided to the United States.
Those with ties to terrorist groups were considered “operatives,” meaning they participated in Hamas military or political activities, according to the report.
“UNRWA’s problem is not just ‘a few bad apples’ involved in the October 7 massacre: the institution as a whole is a haven for the radical ideology of Hamas,” a senior Israeli government official told the Journal.
About 10% of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s 12,000-member workforce has close ties to Gaza terror groups, according to Israeli intelligence. AFP via Getty Images The aid agency is responsible for distributing most of the assistance to Gaza’s nearly 2 million refugees. REUTERS
UNRWA declined to comment on allegations that its ranks were filled with Hamas relatives, noting that an internal UN investigation into the agency was ongoing after 12 members were accused last week of participating in the October 7 terrorist attack.
While 15% of average adult men in Gaza have some ties to Hamas, the intelligence report indicated that a significantly higher percentage (nearly a quarter) of male UNRWA employees had connections to the group, claiming that the terrorist group could have had more influence. in the aid agency than in the general population.
The apparent politicization of the aid group has previously been denounced by Israel, which discovered that former UNRWA union chief Suhail al-Hindi had been elected to a senior position in Hamas in 2017.
UNRWA quickly fired al-Hindi following the release of the intelligence report.
UNRWA has long been accused of spreading anti-Israel sentiments in its refugee camps. Xinhua/Shutterstock
The aid organization fired nine of 12 employees accused of actively participating in Hamas terrorist activities, including an Arabic teacher who turned out to be a militant commander who participated in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7. .
Two of the dozen are already dead and the fate of the twelfth is unclear.
Among the laid-off staff were other teachers and social workers who helped in the terrorist attack that left more than 1,200 people dead and more than 240 kidnapped.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini criticized nations for suspending funding to the aid group after Israel’s report. via REUTERS At least 12 UNRWA employees were directly involved in the October 7 terrorist attack, according to intelligence documents. REUTERS
The accusations facing the agency have shaken the world’s confidence in its ability to provide aid to the nearly 2 million Palestinian refugees caught in the middle of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Ten countries, including the United States, have cut millions of dollars in funding to UNRWA, and the agency’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, criticized the move as one that unfairly punishes the Palestinian population as a whole.
“Our humanitarian operation, which 2 million people depend on as a lifeline in Gaza, is collapsing,” Lazzarini said over the weekend. “I am amazed that such decisions are made based on the alleged behavior of a few individuals and, as the war continues, the needs deepen and famine looms.
“Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. “This stains us all,” he added.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn