Israel presents list identifying more than 100 UNRWA workers as alleged Hamas members

11 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Israeli authorities on Thursday unveiled a list identifying more than 100 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as alleged active members of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The Israeli Embassy in Germany said in a statement that this affects a total of 108 UNRWA workers and confirmed that the list was included in a letter delivered by the Israeli Foreign Ministry to the agency’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, a letter to which the German tabloid ‘Bild’ had access.

The document is also expected to be delivered to UN Secretary General António Guterres, although it has not yet been published by the Israeli government. According to the newspaper, the list would be part of a “larger” document that also includes UN workers who would be part of the lists of Palestinian armed groups such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

However, the names of those affected have not been made public for privacy reasons, although UNRWA itself confirmed that it had received the letter from the Israeli government in statements to the German news agency DPA.

UNRWA, which said it takes the allegations “very seriously”, said the workers are currently in the Gaza Strip. It has asked for more information and cooperation from the Israeli authorities, as the agency lacks the resources to investigate such allegations.

Despite these accusations, last April the external investigation led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to examine the work of the agency concluded that there was “room for improvement” in issues such as neutrality or transparency, but ruled out that Israel had presented sufficient evidence to prove the terrorist links attributed to several of its employees.

These accusations date back to March, when, as the report recalls, Israel accused “a significant number” of UNRWA workers of “being members of terrorist organisations”. “However, Israel has not provided any evidence to support this,” says the report, which was drawn up based on meetings with all parties, including the Israeli government.

The allegations prompted 16 countries to suspend or freeze funding, effectively depriving UNRWA of $450 million and calling into question the continued existence of its operations, both in the Gaza Strip and in other areas of the region where there are also Palestinian refugees.