New York, Mar. 1, (dpa/GNA) – One month after the start of an investigation into allegations that members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were involved in the October 7 massacre, the United Nations is still waiting for intelligence documents from Israel.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a briefing on Thursday that the Office of Internal Oversight (OIOS) is currently seeking “to corroborate additional information and to compare the information obtained with materials held by Israeli authorities, which OIOS expects to receive shortly.”
Israel has accused several UNRWA employees of being involved in the October 7 terror attacks led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Several major Western donors to UNRWA, including the United States and Germany, have temporarily suspended payments to the Gaza relief agency over the allegations.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called the allegations credible and pledged a comprehensive investigation, as well as terminating the employment of a number of staff members.
More than four weeks after the start of the investigation, the UN agents are now planning a trip to Israel to obtain information from authorities there.
So far, a number of other documents have been analysed, including from other countries.
OIOS investigators “have also reviewed information and communications technology data, including email records and information on UNRWA vehicles,” Dujarric said.
The UN did not make any definitive statements about whether it believed the suspects to be guilty.
According to dpa information, Israeli authorities have provided the UN with 12 names and phones geodata from October 7. These were checked by the UN and supported Israel’s claims.
Around 1,200 people died in the attack in Israel by Palestinian militants from Hamas and other Islamist militant groups.
Set up in 1949, the UNRWA provides relief to Palestinian refugees, operating educational and medical facilities. More than 30,000 people work for the organization, some 13,000 of them in the Gaza Strip alone.
The agency is seen as irreplaceable in the area, where it provides aid to more than 2 million civilians currently suffering the effects of the Gaza War.
GNA