UN probe finds insufficient evidence on UNRWA staff links to 7 Oct. attack on Israel

An investigation by the United Nations found on Monday that evidence was insufficient to conclusively prove the involvement of most of the 19 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA) staff members accused of participating in the 7 Oct. 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

The investigation, conducted by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, reviewed allegations against 19 UNRWA staff members following Israel's January claims that 12 staff participated in the October 7 attacks, with seven additional cases brought forward in March and April.

While nine staff members were dismissed based on the "possibility" of involvement, the evidence was found lacking for the remaining staff members, according to the inquiry. Two of those were already killed since Israel's war on Gaza began.

"For nine people, the evidence was sufficient to conclude that they may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks," deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told a UN briefing.

Haq said all the nine individuals who the investigation concluded "may" have been involved were men. He did not give details of what they may have done but said: "For us, any participation in the attacks is a tremendous betrayal of the sort of work that we are supposed to be doing on behalf of the Palestinian people."

The United Nations launched the investigation after Israel charged in January that 12 UNRWA staff took part in the October 7 attacks that triggered the Gaza war. Seven more cases were brought to the UN's attention in March and April.

UNRWA employs 32,000 people across its area of operations, 13,000 of them in Gaza.

The UN's Haq said the United Nations investigation had made findings in relation to 19 UNRWA staff members.

Apart from those who "may" have been involved in the attack, no evidence was obtained to support allegations of one staff member's involvement, while in the other cases, the evidence was insufficient to support their involvement.

UNWRA said in March that some employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that the agency has Hamas links and that staff took part in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Haq said the details of the OIOS investigation were confidential and that since information used by Israeli authority officials to support their allegations has remained in their hands, "OIOS was not able to independently authenticate most of the information provided to it."

(Agencies contributed to this report)