Gaza and Charities at War: UNRWA Fires 9 Employees Suspected of Participating in October 7

We have previously reported that Israel accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of harboring terrorists who participated in the October 7th massacre.  Many member states, including the US, suspended donations to UNRWA.  The United States and others resumed donations after concluding the claims could not be substantiated. Nevertheless, the accusations precipitated UN investigations.  On Monday, the United Nation Secretary-General issued the following statement to correspondents:

The Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) has completed its investigation into 19 area staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), regarding allegations of their involvement in the armed attacks of 7 October 2023 in southern Israel.  OIOS made findings in relation to each of the 19 UNRWA staff members alleged to have been involved in the attacks.  

In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff members’ involvement. With respect to these ten cases, appropriate measures will be taken in due course, in conformity with UNRWA Regulations and Rules.

In respect of the remaining nine cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS indicated that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October 2023. The employment of these individuals will be terminated in the interests of the Agency.

The Wall Street Journal published a disapproving editorial about the findings this week.  Separately, Philippe Lazzarini, UN Commissioner-General of UNRWA (pictured above) said this:

I acknowledge the completion of the investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) into the serious allegations that 19 area UNRWA staff members in Gaza were involved in the abhorrent attacks of 7 October on southern Israel.  “The allegations were brought to the Agency’s attention in January.  In close consultation with the United Nations Secretary-General (SG), I immediately terminated the contracts of the staff in question, in the interest of the Agency, while the SG tasked OIOS to launch an investigation.  Additional allegations were brought to our attention in March and April and the concerned staff were added to the OIOS investigation. 

The OIOS investigation’s outcomes are the following:  

In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement. That staff member has rejoined the Agency. “In nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff members’ involvement and the OIOS investigation of them is now closed. “For the remaining nine cases, the evidence – if authenticated and corroborated – could indicate that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the attacks of 7 October. “I have decided that in the case of these remaining nine staff members, they cannot work for UNRWA.  All contracts of these staff members will be terminated in the interest of the Agency. 

The Agency’s priority is to continue lifesaving and critical services for Palestine Refugees in Gaza and across the region, especially in the face of the ongoing war, the instability and risk of regional escalation. “UNRWA is committed to continue upholding the fundamental principles and values of the United Nations, including the humanitarian principle of neutrality, and to ensure that all its staff abide by the Agency's policy on outside and political activities. 

In April, an independent Agency-wide review by three reputable research centres under the leadership of former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna concluded that UNRWA ‘possesses a more developed approach to neutrality than other similar UN or NGO entities’. The Agency has started implementing the recommendations of the review” and is fully committed to them.  “Finally, I reiterate UNRWA’s condemnation of the 7 October attack in the strongest possible terms. I call – once again – for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and their safe return to their families.

At the beginning of this year, the United Nations commissioned an outside review of "Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality." Here is the Executive Summary from the April 2024 report:

An Independent Review Group on the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was appointed by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, in consultation with the UNRWA Commissioner-General, on 5 February 2024. The Group was created to assess whether UNRWA is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations of serious neutrality breaches when they are made, taking into account the […] context in which it has to work, especially in Gaza, and to make recommendations for UNRWA to improve and strengthen in this area, if necessary. This followed allegations made by the Government of Israel in January 2024 that some UNRWA staff may have participated in the 7 October 2023 terror attacks on Israel. The UN Secretary-General also activated a separate investigation by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) to determine the veracity of these allegations, which, if proven true, would be horrifying in addition to being a grave violation of their obligations towards the Organization.

In the days and weeks after the allegations, 16 Member State donors suspended or paused funding, and others indicated conditionality. Overall, the suspension of funding amounted to around US$450 million. Based on initiatives already taken by UNRWA, a number of Member States have since resumed funding. However, Member States requested more information on what had occurred as well as reinforcement of UNRWA’s existing neutrality mechanisms and procedures, including staff vetting and oversight. 

darryll k. jones

 

 

The Review Group commenced its work on 13 February 2024. Led by Ms. Catherine Colonna, the Group included three research organizations, namely the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

Throughout the nine-week review, the Group extensively analysed the mechanisms and procedures currently in place within UNRWA to ensure neutrality and address potential breaches. The Group’s members conducted f ield visits to UNRWA headquarters and facilities in Amman, Jerusalem and the West Bank, engaging with various stakeholders including UNRWA officials, donor Member States, host countries, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Group conducted meetings and interviews with more than 200 people, including with UNRWA staff in Gaza. Direct contacts were made with 47 countries and organizations.

The three institutes submitted their research to the Secretary-General through his Chef de Cabinet and to the Chair. The present document, which constitutes the final review report, is presented under the responsibility of the Chair. Situating the review, it is significant that UNRWA continuously operates amid recurring conflicts, violence, a lack of political progress, poor socioeconomic conditions and the proliferation of armed groups. In Gaza in particular, Hamas, the de facto ruling entity until October 2023, is designated as a terrorist organization by major donors such as the United States and the European Union (EU), while other factions also actively oppose the Palestinian Authority. UNRWA’s neutrality challenges differ from those of other international organizations due to the magnitude of its operations, with most personnel being locally recruited and recipients of UNRWA services.

In the absence of a political solution between Israel and the Palestinians, UNRWA remains pivotal in providing life-saving humanitarian aid and essential social services, particularly in health and education, to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. As such, UNRWA is irreplaceable and indispensable to Palestinians’ human and economic development. In addition, many view UNRWA as a humanitarian lifeline.

As a UN agency, UNRWA and its staff and personnel have a fundamental obligation to maintain neutrality to ensure the integrity of the agency’s mission and the effectiveness of its operations. Neutrality is a UN commitment as one of the four humanitarian principles formally adopted by the General Assembly1 and upheld by other UN agencies while operating in humanitarian settings. It means that humanitarian actors must not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature. Despite significant investment and efforts, UNRWA’s neutrality has been consistently questioned by Palestinian and Israeli stakeholders. In the past, several allegations of neutrality breaches have taken place and disciplinary measures were taken, but allegations of neutrality breaches were never as serious as the ones that surfaced in January 2024.

The Review revealed that UNRWA has established a significant number of mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance with the humanitarian principles, with emphasis on the principle of neutrality, and that it possesses a more developed approach to neutrality than other similar UN or NGO entities. The UNRWA Neutrality Framework was established in 2017 “to serve as a repository of existing standards, practices and procedures with regard to neutrality and to introduce new standards and procedures.” The framework aims to “ensure a consistent and coherent approach, agency-wide, to key issues relating to the neutrality of UNRWA operations.” The Framework covers substantive areas including the neutrality of UNRWA staff and other personnel, including their use of social media; neutrality of UNRWA installations; neutrality of UNRWA assets, particularly vehicles; and other areas in relation to UNRWA operations, including donors, partners and agency assistance. Obligations for the agency’s staff are set out clearly in the International Staff Regulations and the Area Staff Regulations dated 1 January 2018.

Despite this robust framework, neutrality-related issues persist. They include instances of staff publicly expressing political views, host-country textbooks with problematic content being used in some UNRWA schools, and politicized staff unions making threats against UNRWA management and causing operational disruptions.

The Review identified several measures to help UNRWA address its neutrality challenges in eight critical areas requiring immediate improvement:

• Engagement with donors

• Governance

• Management and internal oversight structures • Neutrality of staff and behaviour

• Neutrality of installations

• Neutrality of education

• Neutrality of staff unions

• Strengthened partnership with UN agencies The measures identified in each critical area are designed to help UNRWA face the neutrality challenges stemming from the operational, political and security environment in which it operates. Given the uniqueness of this political context, these measures will have a significant impact only with the support of host countries, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.