Israel: U.N. agency in Gaza failed to root out Hamas

JERUSALEM — When the United Nations launched an investigation a decade ago into whether a handful of its employees in the Gaza Strip were members of Hamas, it was not long before a senior U.N. legal officer in the territory started receiving death threats.

First there were emails, sent from anonymous accounts, according to three senior U.N. officials based in Gaza at that time. Then came a funeral bouquet, delivered to the main U.N. compound, labeled with the legal officer’s name. Finally, there was a live grenade, sent to the compound with its pin still inside, according to two of the officials.

The U.N. evacuated the legal officer, hurrying him to Jerusalem, the three people said.

Previously unreported episodes like this one form part of the backstory to the current crisis embroiling UNRWA, the U.N. relief group in Gaza now sheltering more than half of the enclave’s population.

Current and former UNRWA officials say the agency has long taken seriously and investigated accusations of infiltration by Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007.

Israel has long made a broader accusation: UNRWA didn’t go far enough to root out Hamas and was unwilling to clean up systematically. It has said UNRWA is a completely compromised organization too weak to protect against infiltration and needs to be replaced by a more neutral aid group.

Last month, Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff members of participating in the Hamas-led raid on Israel at the start of the war Oct. 7 or in the raid’s aftermath. It has also said that 1 in 10 UNRWA employees in Gaza are Hamas members.