Israel has published the names of numerous UNRWA employees who are allegedly members of Hamas. This could intensify the debate about the funding of the aid organization by international donors, including Germany.
Israel says it has compiled a list of names of employees of the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA who are also said to be active in the terrorist organization Hamas. The country has identified 108 employees of the organization to whom this applies and has presented a corresponding list to UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini, the Israeli embassy in Berlin announced. The “Bild” newspaper had previously reported on this.
This represents only a small proportion of the hundreds of UNRWA employees who are said to be employed by Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The information cannot currently be independently verified.
According to a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the list was also presented to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Israel has not yet published it.
When asked, the UN Palestinian Relief Agency confirmed that it had received “a letter from the Israeli government with allegations against employees working in the Gaza Strip.” This also included a list of around 100 names that were said to be members of Hamas’ military wing. “UNRWA takes these allegations seriously,” the agency said. The organization responded to the letter and asked for information and cooperation. It does not have resources such as its own intelligence services to investigate the allegations.
UNRWA hit the headlines in January because Israel accused several of the aid agency’s employees of being involved in the October 7 massacre. According to Israel, the organization as a whole has been infiltrated by the Islamist Hamas. Several countries, including Germany, initially stopped their payments to the organization.
An audit report by independent experts later concluded that UNRWA had established “robust” mechanisms to uphold its principle of neutrality. But there was room for improvement. At the beginning of April, Germany announced that it would resume funding for the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.
“UNRWA has become a terrorist aid organization. The German government must ensure that German tax money does not end up with terrorists,” demanded Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, according to a statement. Hamas also uses the UN organization’s facilities for military purposes, it added.
