UN agency admits staffers ‘likely’ participated in Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel

Nine United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) employees were “likely” involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, a United Nations spokesperson confirmed to a reporter during a press conference on Monday.

The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) investigated 19 UNRWA staffers for potential involvement in the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel and found that nine may have participated, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said at the press conference. The UN did not provide details on what actions the employees may have carried out but noted that they would be fired from their roles.

“For nine people, the evidence was sufficient to conclude that they may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks,” Haq said.

Multiple reporters in the room pressed Haq over what he meant by “may,” with one asking if he could “say that these nine people likely or highly likely were part of the attacks.” Haq responded that was “a good way of describing it.”

OIOS’ investigation followed accusations from Israel that 12 UNRWA staff members participated in Hamas’ attacks, according to Reuters. Some of the evidence reviewed by OIOS is in Israeli custody and could not be independently verified by the UN, but the organization had “sufficient information” to make its decision, Haq said.

The UN did not conduct live interviews of the accused staffers, but in some cases, did receive video testimonies, Haq said.

The final report on UNRWA staff involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks will remain confidential for legal reasons, Haq said.

Israel’s more recent allegations stretch far beyond what the UN investigated, with the state saying in March that over 450 UNRWA staff were affiliated with terrorist groups in Gaza, Reuters reported. UNRWA has 32,000 total employees, 13,000 of whom are stationed in Gaza.

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