Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, says it has dismissed 70 employees amid allegations by Israel that some of its staff have links to Hamas and other terrorist organisations.
Since the October 7 attacks, Israel has presented material which they say shows the involvement of Unrwa employees in terrorist activity, including participation in the Hamas-led attacks and the use of Unrwa facilities by terror groups.
Israel has also accused Unrwa-run schools in Gaza of using educational materials that incite hostility towards Israel and glorify violence.
However, despite dismissing dozens of staff members, Unrwa said the decision “does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them”.
The agency added that the dismissals were not part of a disciplinary process, but were intended “to mitigate safety and security risks for the refugees”.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO that monitors the United Nations, said that “today’s action, while welcome, is only a small beginning”.
He added: “For years, UN Watch has exposed how Unrwa teachers, school principals and other employees are intertwined with Hamas, including terror chiefs heading the staff unions.”
UN Watch criticised Unrwa's “incoherent position – firing people while refusing to acknowledge why,” which it added “reveals an institution still more interested in protecting itself and its Hamas-embedded workforce than in genuine neutrality or accountability.”
In its statement announcing the dismissals, Unrwa said it had “repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information and evidence to substantiate allegations against individual Unrwa staff members in Gaza, but has received no response to date”.
Israel has alleged that more than ten per cent of Unrwa employees in Gaza have links to terrorist organisations and that some staff members took part in the October 7 attacks.
Several former hostages have said they were held in or near Unrwa facilities during their captivity in Gaza.
Israeli authorities have also cited footage from October 7 which they say shows a Unrwa employee transporting the body of Yonatan Samerano in a vehicle bearing Unrwa markings.
In February 2024, the IDF announced that it had uncovered an underground Hamas data centre beneath Unrwa's headquarters in Gaza. The Israeli military has also said that Hamas and other terrorist groups have operated from or sought shelter in school compounds run by the agency.
Founded in 1949, the year after Israel's War of Independence, Unrwa provides services to nearly six million Palestinians registered as refugees.
Critics argue that the agency's unique definition of refugee status, which extends to descendants of refugees, has helped perpetuate rather than resolve the conflict. Unrwa rejects that criticism, saying it operates under mandates set by the UN General Assembly.
Unrwa is one of two UN refugee agencies. The other, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, is responsible for refugees worldwide. The United States, formerly Unrwa's largest donor, suspended funding in January 2024 following allegations concerning the involvement of some agency employees in the October 7 attacks.
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