The scandal surrounding the UN aid agency for Palestinians is apparently much bigger than expected. According to a media report, one in ten UNRWA employees has links to terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
More and more is becoming known about the involvement of UN aid workers in the activities of militant Palestinian groups: it is now known that twelve of them participated in the terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7. About ten percent of all 12,000 UNRWA aid workers working in the Gaza Strip have ties to Hamas or Islamic Jihad, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing intelligence reports.
The information is based on cell phone records, interrogations of captured Hamas fighters and documents seized from slain terrorists. Of the 12 UNRWA staff involved in the Hamas attack, seven were teachers, including two math teachers, two Arabic teachers and a primary school teacher, the US newspaper reported.
“A refuge for Hamas’s radical ideology”
The accusations against UNRWA caused outrage around the world. In response, numerous countries have temporarily halted payments to the aid agency, including Austria, Germany, the US, Britain and France. “UNRWA’s problem is not just ‘a few bad apples’ involved in the October 7 massacre,” said a senior Israeli government official. “The institution as a whole is a refuge for Hamas’ radical ideology.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken again called for clarification of the allegations on Monday. At the same time, however, he emphasized the “indispensable role” that the aid organization plays in caring for citizens in need.
As a result of the scandal, UNRWA’s overall activities have also come under increasing scrutiny. The aid agency has given refugee status to nearly six million Palestinians since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Those who were displaced when the State of Israel was founded and their descendants are promised a return. Israel rejects this because it sees its survival in danger; critics therefore regard the right of return as a ‘political illusion’, as the ‘Neue Zürcher Zeitung’ wrote on Tuesday.
Expert: “Right of return generally binding”
From an international law perspective, however, it is a binding law, as Ralph Janik of the University of Vienna emphasizes to krone.at. Every person has the right to return to their home country. But the dilemma here is that “there is no universally recognized and sovereign Palestinian state to which displaced Palestinians can return,” says the international law expert.
The great peculiarity of the Palestinians is that “those who have been granted citizenship in other countries – especially in Jordan – are still considered refugees,” Janik explains. Everywhere else “the bond with the homeland is being severed.” This is also why Israel and its Western allies accuse UNRWA of preventing a solution to the refugee problem.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is trying to find a solution to how UNRWA’s work can continue to be funded despite aid funds being frozen. He therefore wants to meet with representatives of donor countries in New York on Tuesday. Because there is currently not enough money to support the two million civilians in the Gaza Strip in February, Guterres said.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
