'Israel's' envoy to UN says UNRWA role in Gaza 'finished'
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The Israeli occupation's ambassador to the UN says UNRWA will "never again operate in Gaza."
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The war-torn headquarters of UNRWA in Gaza City. (AFP)
"Israel" is unwilling to give up its false allegations against the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza, as demonstrated by its ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan on Monday.
Erdan claimed that UNRWA's work in Gaza was over, calling for the defunding and dismantling of the organization and accusing its staff of taking part in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7.
Unverified accusations targeting 12 UNRWA employees prompted 16 major donors to halt contributions amounting to $450 million, coinciding with a period where over two million residents in Gaza are confronting the threat of famine due to the Israeli genocide and total blockade.
UNRWA warned that it is reaching a "breaking point", and possesses funds only adequate for sustaining operations for the next month, at best.
During a UNGA meeting, Erdan alleged that after all that was "exposed" about the organization, it will "never again operate in Gaza," citing that its role is "finished and it must be replaced. UNRWA must be defunded and dismantled."
See this: Israeli accusations against UNRWA crumbling
The Israeli ambassador claimed that up to 12% of UNRWA personnel participated in the October 7 events, citing "proof" that the organization had contributed to their "terror machine".
UNRWA’s Commissioner General, Philippe Lazzarini, said during an interview for the Financial Times that "Israel" has not furnished evidence to support its accusations, and Financial Times, having reviewed the intelligence assessment, reported that "Israel" offered no proof for the accusations, including the claim of a staff member kidnapping a woman.
'Israel's' dodgy dossier
"Israel" prepared a six-page dossier, which was shared with the Canadian government to back its claims of UNRWA's alleged affiliation with the October 7 operation.
The Canadian government, however, found no evidence of any ties linking UNRWA to Hamas. Sources told CBC News that the Israeli occupation reiterated its claim, but provided zero evidence to factually prove it.
The United Kingdom's Channel Four also reviewed the file, which was initially sent to the British government after it had also opted to defund UNRWA, and drew the same conclusion: "Israel" provided no evidence to back its accusations.
Channel 4's Lindsey Hilsum presented a broadcast addressing the contradiction, and took to X to voice her thoughts, saying, "We got hold of Israel’s dossier against UNRWA - why did the donors including the UK withdraw funding on such flimsy unproven allegations before an investigation?"
We got hold of Israel’s dossier against UNRWA - why did the donors including the UK withdraw funding on such flimsy unproven allegations before an investigation?https://t.co/9ssCrIbfPK
— Lindsey Hilsum (@lindseyhilsum) February 5, 2024
'Israel' has not provided evidence to back claims on UNRWA: UN
The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) commenced an inquiry on January 29th following the Israeli accusations, initially reported to UNRWA in January. An update on the investigation progress was provided to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday.
Diplomats who reviewed the preliminary report from OIOS stated that it did not include any fresh evidence from "Israel" since the initial presentation of the claims in January, which lacked supporting proof. Summarizing the results, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric affirmed that the investigation still awaits corroborating material from "Israel".
“OIOS investigators have reviewed the initial information received by UNRWA from Israeli authorities,” Dujarric said on Thursday.
“The investigation remains ongoing. OIOS will seek to corroborate additional information and to compare the information obtained with materials held by Israeli authorities, which OIOS expects to receive shortly,” he added.
“OIOS staff are planning to visit Israel soon to obtain information from Israeli authorities that may be relevant to the investigation,” Dujarric further stressed.
He mentioned that the investigators had engaged with other member states and conducted visits to the UNRWA headquarters in Jordan to examine details about UNRWA personnel and activities, encompassing electronic communications and information regarding the utilization of UN vehicles.
In the same context, the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, told journalists on Thursday, “It is a little bit shortsighted to believe that UNRWA can just technically hand over all its activities to other UN agencies or NGOs.”
“It’s an agency [that’s] quite unique because we are … primarily providing government-like services to one of the most destitute communities in the region,” he said.
US intelligence assesses Israeli accusations as 'low confidence'
A new report by the US intelligence has lately revealed that the latter evaluated the Israeli claims about the alleged involvement of staff members at UNRWA on October 7 and gave it a “low confidence” assessment, The Wall Street Journal stated, citing officials familiar with the matter.
The National Intelligence Council (NIC), a group of veteran intelligence analysts, worked on the four-page report, which was circulated within the US government last week, the sources revealed.
The Intelligence Council develops and sustains intelligence and information-exchanging relationships with international, military, domestic, and private sector partners to boost intelligence-related communications. Its authority to conduct such activities is governed by many laws and regulations mainly the "Executive Order 12333, United States Intelligence Activities," which was amended in 2008.
The US intelligence report's “low confidence” assessment emphasized that the intelligence officials find "Israel’s" claims that a dozen UNRWA employees took part in the attacks "plausible", yet no stronger confirmation can be made for the lack of independent evidence to back them.
