The United Nations organization for Palestinian refugees has fired a dozen employees for claiming they participated in Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, the agency said Friday.
Israeli authorities handed over information alleging that 12 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were involved in the killing in southern Israel, the agency’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, said.
“To protect the agency’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance, I have made the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation to establish the truth without delay.”
The United States immediately cut funding to the agency in the wake of the allegations that emerged, the State Department said, marking a significant shift from the Biden administration’s strong support for UNRWA.
The UN has fired staff allegedly involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks. AFP via Getty Images The UN says Israel provided it with information about the staff’s alleged involvement. AP
“The United States is extremely concerned about allegations that 12 UNRWA employees may have been involved in the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on October 7,” the department’s statement said.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on January 25 to emphasize the need for a swift and thorough investigation of this matter.”
Shortly after taking office, the Biden administration resumed funding to the agency that had been abruptly cut in 2018 during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Since then, the United States has funneled more than $730 million to the organization to help refugees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The new allegations sparked swift calls among Republicans, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), for the United States to permanently defund UNRWA.
The United States immediately suspended funding to UNRWA after accusations by Israel that 12 of its staff members participated in the October 7 attacks. HAITHAM IMAD/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“Over the past three years, Joe Biden’s decision to send American taxpayer dollars to Gaza without oversight or accountability has allowed the proliferation of abhorrent and anti-Semitic educational materials that are used throughout Gaza and filled the coffers of Hamas.” Stefanik said in a statement.
“The Biden Administration’s limited suspension of funding to UNRWA to cover up its disastrous mistake is unacceptable. “Joe Biden must permanently cut all funding to this anti-Semitic and violent organization.”
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) added that the decision to suspend funding was “long overdue,” but was a “weak response to the massive and irrefutable evidence of extensive and enduring collusion, complicity and even cooperation by UNRWA in the Hamas terrorist campaign. .”
“What we need is a comprehensive, fact-based approach to UNRWA that stops all funding and makes future funding conditional on a complete top-to-bottom reform and restructuring of UNRWA,” Smith added.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) agreed, and both issued statements saying the agency “should never receive” another cent from the United States.
An Israeli tank attacked a UNRWA vocational training center used by displaced Palestinians as shelter. AP Palestinians wait with empty bowls for volunteers’ food at the donation points. APAImages/Shutterstock
It comes after the White House forcefully defended UNRWA’s “great work in Gaza” earlier this month, as House Republicans demanded an investigation into allegations that the agency helped Hamas terrorists. with “food, fuel and supplies” destined for humanitarian aid in the midst of the war.
“UNRWA… a U.N. aid agency, does important work,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Jan. 4 when asked if the United States planned to reassess how it dealt with the organization. .
“In fact, they are doing a lot of work right now in terms of trying to get food, water and medicine to the people of Gaza, across the Strip. “They are doing a lot of work and they are doing it in danger, very much in danger.”
Meanwhile, Blinken had visited the UNRWA offices in Jordan just a month ago, where he also praised the agency’s work in Gaza and mourned the deaths of dozens of its employees in the conflict.
The latest developments involving UNRWA come after the agency has been dogged by accusations in recent years that it has harbored staff who have incited violence against Jews.
He has been accused of employing teachers who “regularly call for the murder of Jews” and of teaching from textbooks “that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis and incite anti-Semitism,” according to a joint report in March 2023 by the non-governmental organization UN Watch and the non-profit Israeli Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education.
Some Republican lawmakers on Friday criticized the Biden administration for failing to notice the “extensive evidence” sooner and for barely thwarting the flow of funds to the organization.
“For years there has been abundant evidence that UNRWA is not a neutral arbiter and that its anti-Israel bias is widespread and systemic. However, the Biden administration inexplicably resumed funding for the organization in 2021,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tx).
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) added: “For years, the Biden administration coddled UNRWA and ignored Republican calls for reform. “Now they are following our example and it is only a matter of time before UNRWA will have to answer for its cover-ups and complicity with Hamas.”
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn