Despite the absence of substantiation, Israeli claims have led to significant financial losses for UNRWA.
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Palestinians demonstrate in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip calling for continued international support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), January 30, 2024. (AFP)
Unsubstantiated Israeli accusations regarding UNRWA’s connections to Hamas and PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) prompted major donors to withdraw $450 million in funding from the primary humanitarian agency operating in Gaza, exacerbating an already dire situation where many were facing mortality, a recent analysis by The Guardian‘s World Affairs Editor, Julian Borger highlighted.
Three months later, the situation deteriorated further, with the emergence of an Israeli-made famine alongside relentless Israeli bombings, healthcare system collapse, water scarcity, and increased epidemics.
Despite a thorough investigation led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, supported by three reputable research institutes, no evidence has been found to support the Israeli claim that a significant number of UNRWA employees have ties to the Palestinian Resistance movements.
A separate review is ongoing regarding specific accusations that UNRWA employees were involved in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. However, according to UN officials, this investigation remains incomplete, with “Israel” still withholding cooperation as of the last progress report.
The Colonna inquiry, which constitutes a comprehensive assessment of UNRWA’s neutrality, reached out to Israeli occupation authorities in March and April, seeking names and evidence supporting Israeli claims.
“Israel’s” cooperation with the inquiry could be deemed unnecessary, given that UNRWA’s donors were quick to suspend funding without requiring evidence, as per Borger.
While most major donor countries have reportedly resumed funding, the UK has withheld funds, and Germany is only supporting UNRWA operations outside Gaza.
Although the Israeli allegations prompted the funding suspension, the UK and German governments claimed that they would consider the broader findings of the Colonna report on integrity and neutrality when reassessing their positions.
In Borger’s view, “There was an element of miscalculation and accident in how this funding crisis unfolded.”
‘It is a political issue’
On January 18, UNRWA’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, was summoned to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, where he was given a list of twelve UNRWA employees accused of participating in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood without offering any evidence to support the claim.
Upon reviewing the list, Lazzarini discovered that all twelve individuals had been or were current employees of UNRWA, although two of them had already been killed by the Israeli occupation through its indiscriminate bombing. Despite the lack of evidence, Lazzarini utilized his executive authority to terminate their employment to safeguard UNRWA’s reputation and its activities in Gaza.
Commenting on the chief’s abrupt decision, Borger said, “However, far from cauterizing the problem, the dismissals heightened the misgivings of donor governments, who reasoned that the staff would not have been fired in the absence of a serious problem.”
According to him, it’s impossible to determine if merely suspending the workers would have yielded similar results, but the dismissals certainly prompted swift abrupt reactions, as per the analysis. Within a day of Lazzarini’s announcement, the first nine donors had suspended funding.
These decisions were made against the backdrop of a longstanding perception, fostered by “Israel”, that UNRWA was “a captive of Hamas in Gaza”. This was the context that prompted the Colonna review.
The Colonna report acknowledges UNRWA’s significant efforts to uphold its neutrality amid challenging conditions.
As part of UNRWA’s vetting process for its 13,000 Gaza staff, employee lists were shared with “Israel” and the US. However, the report noted that “Israel” had not raised concerns about any individuals on the list since 2011.
Colonna outlines several ways UNRWA’s procedures could be strengthened, with some recommendations emphasizing increased cooperation.
Notably, Colonna’s account underscores Israeli disengagement both before and after October 7. This reflects a prevailing sentiment in Israeli political circles that UNRWA is beyond reform and must be eradicated.
It is a political issue. The agency’s full name is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
UNRWA was established in the aftermath of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, and its continual presence underscores the persistence of the unresolved issues stemming from that struggle, as per the analysis.
The Palestinians forcibly displaced in 1948, as well as subsequent Israeli aggressions, remain refugees along with their descendants. This legal designation, upheld by UNRWA’s existence and ongoing operations, implies an entitlement to a right of return under international law. This right can only be addressed through a comprehensive settlement.
“Until then, UNRWA is a reminder to Israel of its obligations as an occupying power, and to some Israelis, it is therefore an enemy to be eliminated, no matter what the cost in Palestinian lives,” Borger concludes saying.
