Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, answers questions at a press conference.<\/p><\/div>\n

Thursday, 8 August 2024 | Several media outlets and critics of Israel noted that Monday\u2019s release of results of an internal United Nations investigation stated that nine UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] staffers \u201cmay\u201d have participated in Hamas\u2019s October 7 massacre.<\/p>\n

But a spokesman for the head of the United Nations later clarified that the conclusions were more definitive in nature.<\/p>\n

Chris Gunness, a virulent anti-Israel former communications director for the scandal-plagued UNRWA Palestinian-only aid and social services agency, tweeted on Monday that \u201cthe UN investigation has found Israel\u2019s claims that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7\/10 attack to be baseless. Allegations into more than half were rejected outright. Of the few remaining, the UN says there MAY have been involvement, not that there was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gunness, like others, used the official language of \u201cmay\u201d to sweep away the findings.<\/p>\n

But, pressed at a journalists\u2019s briefing on Monday, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson to UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, conceded it went further than that.<\/p>\n

Asked whether those nine UNRWA workers \u201clikely or highly likely were part of the attacks,\u201d Haq responded, \u201cI think that\u2019s a good way of describing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investigators from the UN\u2019s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) insisted that without fuller evidence sharing from Israeli officials, they could not independently verify or corroborate the allegations, leaving doubt in the language of their findings as to the veracity of the allegations.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, UNRWA announced it had terminated the nine staffers under question.<\/p>\n

Haq said further steps would be taken regarding another nine accused staffers for whom insufficient evidence existed and one staff member for whom no evidence was delivered, according to OIOS. It is likely those staffers, if they are not deceased, will have their suspensions lifted.<\/p>\n

Several Israeli officials and entities have insisted that the nine staffers who were \u201clikely or very likely\u201d to have participated in the massacre is the tip of the iceberg, with UNRWA-Hamas ties running deep.<\/p>\n

Upon suspending funding for UNRWA in January in the wake of Israel\u2019s allegations, the Biden administration announced it would wait until the OIOS investigation was concluded to announce whether it might restore its donations.<\/p>\n

Since that time, Congress, in a bipartisan fashion, has passed legislation that would bar funding for UNRWA through at least March 2025, with additional bills potentially lengthening that time frame if passed through both houses and signed by Biden.<\/p>\n

Fifteen other countries that also suspended funding have since restored it, largely after the release of a separate review of UNRWA\u2019s neutrality and hiring practices. Critics say the review, conducted in part by European agencies that had previously absolved UNRWA of the criticisms against it, was a whitewash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday, 8 August 2024 | Several media outlets and critics of Israel noted that Monday\u2019s release of results of an internal United Nations investigation stated that nine UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] staffers \u201cmay\u201d have participated in Hamas\u2019s October 7 massacre. But a spokesman for the head of the United Nations later clarified<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11399,"featured_media":226894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n