Allegations of terrorism

Report on UN relief organization: “Critical areas”

An employee of the UN relief organization UNRWA in the Gaza Strip (archive photo)(Bild: AFP)

Following serious accusations by Israel against the UN relief organization UNRWA in Palestine, the interim report is now available. The experts see a need for improvement in several "critical areas". Concrete recommendations are still being developed.

As reported, Israel's government is accusing a dozen UNRWA employees of being involved in the terrorist acts committed by the Islamist Hamas on October 7. Military spokesman Daniel Hagari even spoke of 450 terrorists (see video above). As a result, several people were dismissed and the governments of many Western countries temporarily suspended their payments. Austria's government also joined in. UN Secretary-General António Guterres promised a comprehensive investigation.

Details from the first interim report became known on Wednesday. The experts led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna identified "critical areas", but did not specify which ones. However, the aid organization would also have "a significant number of mechanisms and procedures" to ensure neutrality.

A UNRWA employee in Palestine(Bild: AFP)

Working with refugees(Bild: APA/AFP)

An aid agency post in the West Bank(Bild: AFP)

Report to be published in April
"The review group will now develop concrete and realistic recommendations on how these critical areas can be addressed to strengthen and improve UNRWA," the group announced. It was set up at the beginning of February and investigates the extent to which neutrality measures in the Middle East conflict have been complied with or violated.

However, there was only a UN communication on the interim report and the full report is not to be published. However, the final report is expected on April 20 and will be available to the public. At the same time, the United Nations is conducting a second internal investigation into the individual allegations against employees. This is expected to take several weeks.

UNRWA has been looking after Palestinian refugees for decades and runs educational and health facilities, among other things. In total, more than 30,000 people work for the organization, around 13,000 of them in the Gaza Strip. More than two million people live there.