UN agency accused of employing people involved in attacks
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA), has been accused of employing a number of people alleged to have been involved in the 7 October attacks on Israel.
Eight countries, including the UK, have withdrawn funding from the agency. Here, we look at what is UNWRA and its role in Gaza
When was UNWRA founded and what does it do?
The agency, the only one of its kind in the world, was established in 1949 by the UN General Assembly to provides support, education and aid to those living in refugee communities in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Before the recent conflict, it ran a network of schools in Gaza, where up to 80 per cent of people were reliant on its aid. Then, around 500 trucks of aid were entering Gaza every day.
Since the retaliatory attacks on Gaza by Israel, the schools have been closed and repurposed as refugee camps,. Thousands of UNWRA staff, most of them themselves refugees, have still been working in the camps. At least 152 UNRWA staff have been killed since the conflict began.
What have UNWRA employees been accused of?
Israel says 12 people who work for UNWRA – which employs 13,000 people in the strip – were involved in the Hamas attacks on its soil on 7 October.
UNWRA says nine of the 12 people Israel says were involved in the attacks have been fired, while one other is known to have died. It is trying to identify the remaining two people. An investigation has been launched into the allegations by the UN’S Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
How is UNRWA funded? UNWRA was already struggling for funding amid global cuts in overseas aid budgets. Now, eight countries – Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and the US – have entirely withdrawn their funding. Scotland has donated £750,000 to UNRWA’S flash appeal so far and has said it will not pause funding – however, it is unlikely it had payments planned.