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Nine staff members at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNWRA, may have been involved in the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, the United Nations says.<\/p>\n
All nine had their employment terminated, said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq.<\/p>\n
He said the UN had completed an investigation following allegations by Israel that UNWRA staff were involved.<\/p>\n
About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages in the unprecedented assault last autumn.<\/p>\n
Mr Haq did not specify what the staff members’ precise involvement may have been.<\/p>\n
“For us, any participation in the attacks is a tremendous betrayal of the sort of work that we are supposed to be doing on behalf of the Palestinian people,” he said.<\/p>\n
The UN investigated 19 members of UNWRA staff in all, after Israel alleged that 12 took part in the attack.<\/p>\n
Israel later claimed that more than 450 UNWRA staff were members of terrorist groups, but a UN review published in April found Israel had not provided evidence for its claims.<\/p>\n
UNRWA, which employs 13,000 people in Gaza, said in March that some of its employees reported being pressured by Israeli authorities into making false statements while in detention.<\/p>\n
Most countries withdrew funding for the UN agency because of the Israeli allegations.<\/p>\n
In July, the UK joined other countries that had resumed funding since then, leaving the US, UNRWA’s single biggest donor, as the only country not to have restarted donations.<\/p>\n
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