Some UN employees are said to have been involved in terror in Israel. Against the backdrop of the nightmarish accusation, an investigation begins with possible consequences for millions of people.
From Israel’s perspective, the situation is clear: an organization that has terrorists from the October 7 attacks in its ranks must not exist. Corresponding allegations against the UN Palestinian relief organization UNRWA shock donors such as Germany and also the world organization. But the situation is complex – and hasty steps could endanger hundreds of thousands of lives. A potentially momentous review of the organization will begin this Wednesday.
It was a day at the end of January that Philippe Lazzarini will probably never forget. The head of the UN Palestinian Relief Agency, which employs more than 30,000 people, was invited to one of his regular talks at the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. But the meeting was unlike any of the previous ones: Lazzarini was confronted with twelve names. names of his employees. United Nations employees committed to neutrality who are said to have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200 people. It doesn’t actually get any worse.
According to reports, the Israeli government did not present any images or videos, but did present geodata from cell phones. The outrageous allegations withstood initial scrutiny by the UN; Lazzarini flew to New York to personally inform UN Secretary-General António Guterres of the most serious accusation ever made against UNRWA. Guterres classified them as “credible”, fired the suspects – if they were still alive – and announced comprehensive investigations. He knows: With UNRWA, vital aid for around two million people in need in the Gaza Strip stands or falls.
Money is running out
More than a dozen of the largest donors are also reacting to the scandal: the USA and Germany, among others, are freezing their payments; around half of the budget is in danger of disappearing. At the moment the money is only enough for a few weeks. An independent audit of the UNRWA structures that has already been announced in advance is given all the more weight:
Former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is supposed to judge with a strict eye whether the aid organization is doing enough to combat extremism in its own ranks and whether it needs changes. An interim report is expected at the end of March.
There were further allegations against UNRWA from the Israeli side. The military said last week that they had discovered a Hamas tunnel under the organization’s headquarters in the city of Gaza, which is said to have served Hamas as a data center for the militia’s military intelligence. The information could not be independently verified.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling for the aid organization to be dismantled: “UNRWA has been completely infiltrated by Hamas,” he said recently. The organization is basically on the sidelines and anti-Semitic ideology is taught, among other things, through UNRWA school textbooks. Washington and Berlin are not going that far, but the message is clear: something has to happen.
Help for Palestinian refugees
UNRWA has been specifically addressing the needs of Palestinian refugees for decades. Around 700,000 Palestinians had to flee or were expelled in 1948 as a result of the founding of the Israeli state and the first Middle East war in 1948. Today, almost six million Palestinians can benefit from UNRWA assistance, such as education and health services.
UNRWA employs teachers and doctors, but also garbage collectors and security guards. In the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas, it employs around 13,000 people, most of whom are themselves refugees with their own fate in the Middle East conflict. The organization is seen as the humanitarian backbone for the region and – especially in the wake of the ever-increasing war in Gaza – as having no alternative.
Despite the unprecedented allegations against UNRWA, expert Daniel Forti from the Crisis Group think tank sees no negligence: “I don’t think UNRWA or the UN have ignored any of the allegations that Israel has made in the past,” he said in an interview with Deutsche Press agency. For years, a number of measures have been attempted to prevent misconduct by individual employees. This also includes UNRWA sending the list of names of all its employees to Israel every year for inspection by the secret services, says a long-time employee of the aid organization. Israel therefore has an indirect say in the personnel.
Expert Forti also urges us to remain realistic when assessing UNRWA: Due to “Hamas’ strong roots in the local population, it is difficult for UNRWA to ensure that its protective measures against misconduct by staff or the diversion of aid are infallible.” he wrote in an analysis also published on the UNRWA website.
Warning against hasty judgment
In a personal conversation, it becomes clear what shock waves the terror attacks have caused in the UN system – diplomats also warn against making hasty judgments about the entire UNRWA staff, of which well over 140 were killed in bombardments in the Gaza war. Comparisons are being made: Weren’t US military personnel also involved in the storming of the Capitol in Washington? And didn’t the Bundeswehr just have a scandal regarding right-wing radicals in its ranks?
The UNRWA scandal reflects the complexity of the Middle East conflict. Whether and how the organization will change also depends on the assessment and recommendations of the audit that is now underway. What is clear is that the United Nations needs to regain a lot of trust.
The USA and Germany had already welcomed Guterres’ quick action. The 74-year-old Portuguese – also criticized by Israel and ignored by Netanyahu – recently said he was “a little surprised” when he read in the press that the Israeli Foreign Ministry had not expected him to do so in light of the allegations would react.
But he will take action, at whatever level, he says. He owes this not only to Israel and its donors – but also to two million people who are in danger of death in the Gaza Strip.