The United Nations expels 12 members of the refugee agency, whom Israel accuses of helping Hamas

The United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) terminated Contract A Dozens of his employees are in Gaza It opened an investigation into the alleged participation of these workers The October 7 attack carried out by Hamas. Israel accuses them of cooperating with Hamas.

The head of the UN agency said that they decided to fire these 12 workers and terminate their contracts immediately “to protect the agency’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance” to refugees. Philippe Lazzarini stressed that any worker proven to be involved in terrorist acts “must be held accountable, including through judicial procedures.”

Shortly after the United Nations organization announced, The United States “temporarily suspended all funding additional agency.

Chief of American Diplomacy Anthony BlinkenRequest from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres“Fast and thorough investigation.” Washington provides the largest share of funding to the United Nations agency. During the Trump administration, funding suddenly stopped, but with the arrival of Joe Biden to the White House, it recovered.

Israel, which UNRWA has always had in mindIt calls for a “comprehensive internal review of the activities of Hamas and other terrorist organizations” within the agency. The Israeli government had accused the refugee agency in the past of this Corruption and collusion with HamasBut this time the accusation goes further and directly links them to the terrorist attack that occurred on October 7.

Relations between Israel and UNRWA have been gradually deteriorating since the beginning of the war in Gaza. On Wednesday, the United Nations accused Israel Two tanks opened fire on the agency center For Palestinian refugees in Khan Yunis, in which 13 refugees were martyred and 56 others were injured.

According to the United Nations, more than two million people in Gaza have relied on life-saving assistance provided by the refugee agency since the beginning of the war. That's why, they say, anyone who “betraits the core values ​​of the United Nations also betrays those we serve in Gaza, the Middle East and the rest of the world.”