The U.N. agency that supports Palestinian refugees has fired several employees in the Gaza Strip who are accused of taking part in the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel that resulted in at least 1,200 deaths and hundreds of others taken hostage.
On Friday, officials with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said they “immediately terminated the contracts” of the unidentified employees and have launched an investigation.
“Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” said Phillipe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner.
“UNRWA reiterates its condemnation in the strongest possible terms of the abhorrent attacks of 7 October and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all Israeli hostages and their safe return to their families,” he added.
U.N. officials decided to fire the staffers after Israel provided them with information implicating the workers in the terror raid.
“These shocking allegations come as more than 2 million people in Gaza depend on lifesaving assistance that the agency has been providing since the war began,” Mr. Lazzarini said. “Anyone who betrays the fundamental values of the United Nations also betrays those whom we serve in Gaza, across the region and elsewhere around the world.”
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy noted that UNRWA announced the firings on the same day the U.N.’s International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza while stopping short of ordering an immediate cease-fire in its war with Hamas.
“UNRWA sure as hell chose a convenient moment to drop this news and hide it under all the ICJ coverage,” Mr. Levy wrote on X. “Any other day, this would have been a major headline: Israel submits evidence of U.N. employees’ complicity with Hamas.”
The State Department reacted by pausing additional funding for UNRWA while reviewing how the U.N. handles the collusion.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pledged to take “decisive action” if the allegations made by Israel prove to be accurate, the State Department said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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