The scandal surrounding the alleged involvement of some employees of the UN Palestinian Relief Agency in the massacre by the Islamist Hamas in Israel is becoming increasingly widespread. Around ten percent of all 12,000 UNRWA aid workers working in the Gaza Strip have connections to Hamas or Islamist Jihad, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an Israeli intelligence dossier.
Meanwhile, talks about a possible new ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of more hostages are expected to continue this week. While Washington has been cautiously optimistic so far, according to Israeli media reports, Hamas has declared that it will not accept any agreement that does not include an end to the war and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza.
Blinken: UNRWA plays an indispensable role
The allegations against twelve UNRWA employees for their alleged involvement in the Hamas massacre caused outrage around the world. In response, numerous countries temporarily stopped their payments to the aid organization, including Germany, the USA, Great Britain and France.
According to the UN, UN Secretary-General António Guterres wants to meet with representatives of donor countries in New York on Tuesday. He pointed out on Sunday that UNRWA’s current funding was not enough to support the two million civilians in the Gaza Strip in February.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken again called for the allegations to be clarified quickly. The UN relief agency plays an “absolutely indispensable role in ensuring that the men, women and children who so desperately need help in Gaza actually receive it,” Blinken said in Washington.
Israel’s ambassador: UNRWA is in cahoots with terrorists
The UN aid agency fired the employees and wants to investigate the allegations. “UNRWA’s problem is not just ‘a few bad apples’ involved in the October 7 massacre,” the Wall Street Journal quoted a senior Israeli government official as saying. “The institution as a whole is a haven for Hamas’ radical ideology,” the official said. “UNRWA has been in cahoots with the terrorists for a long time,” said Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, to the “Tagesspiegel”. The attackers of the Munich Olympic massacre in 1972 were graduates of UN aid agency schools.
Israel: 13 UNRWA workers implicated in Hamas massacre
Israel has provided details about the alleged involvement of several employees of the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA in the Hamas massacre on October 7th. In total, at least 13 employees of the organization were involved in the terrorist attacks, said Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy. Previously there was talk of twelve employees. However, the information is not necessarily complete, says Levy. “More findings will come to light.”
The former UNRWA head in the Gaza Strip, Matthias Schmale, called the timing of the scandal “politically determined” on Deutschlandfunk. The reports emerged shortly after the ICJ ruling was announced.
Protest in Lebanon against payment suspensions for UNRWA
In Lebanon, people demonstrated against the decision by Western states to temporarily stop their payments to the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees. The Islamist Hamas called for the protest in front of the UNRWA headquarters in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Representatives of Palestinian factions, Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Lebanon and activists attended.
According to UNRWA, around 490,000 people are currently registered as Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Much of this relies on UN support. The Lebanese state itself does not provide for them. UNRWA therefore also runs clinics and schools in Lebanon for people, some of whom have been living in the country for decades with only limited rights.
UN Coordinator for Gaza: Currently no alternative to UNRWA
The new UN coordinator for humanitarian aid for those in need in the Gaza Strip, Sigrid Kaag, currently sees “no replacement” for the controversial UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). Given, among other things, the capacities and structure of UNRWA that have been built up over decades, there is currently no possibility that any other organization can quickly replace the aid agency, said Kaag in New York.
The Dutchwoman had previously informed the UN Security Council behind closed doors about the current situation in the Gaza Strip for the first time since taking office at the beginning of the year.
USA: Don’t want war with Iran
Meanwhile, after the deadly attack by pro-Iranian militias on US military personnel in Jordan, the US government has made it clear that it will not seek escalation with Iran. “We are not looking for war with Iran. We are not seeking conflict with the regime through military means,” National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby said in Washington. They don’t want another war or escalation. “But we will do what is necessary to protect ourselves, to continue this mission and to respond appropriately to these attacks.”
Three US soldiers were killed in a drone attack by pro-Iranian militias in Jordan near the Syrian border. US President Joe Biden blamed “radical, Iran-backed militant groups” for the attack and threatened retaliation. According to the Wall Street Journal, US government officials said they were considering military strikes against militias in Iraq, Syria and possibly Iran. However, an attack on Iranian soil is a less likely scenario, it said.
USA cautiously optimistic about Gaza war
Meanwhile, the USA was cautiously optimistic about a possible new ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of more hostages. “We can’t talk about an impending agreement yet, but based on the discussions we’ve had over the weekend and over the last few days, we feel like it’s moving in a good direction,” Kirby said in Washington.
At the weekend, representatives of the USA, Israel, Egypt and Qatar discussed a new ceasefire in Paris. Good progress has been made to at least lay the foundation for a path forward, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told US broadcaster MSNBC.
Before the consultations, there was a clear demand for a permanent ceasefire – this possibility exists, said Al Thani. According to the Times of Israel, Hamas insisted in a joint statement with the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on Monday evening that Israel must end its “aggression” and withdraw from Gaza before an agreement can be reached. According to estimates, just over 130 people are still in the hands of the Islamists.
Israel: At least a quarter of Hamas eliminated
According to Israeli reports, at least half of Hamas fighters have now been killed or wounded. “We have already eliminated at least a quarter of Hamas terrorists, and there are a similar number of wounded terrorists,” Defense Minister Joav Galant said. His information cannot currently be independently verified. As the news portal Axios reported on Monday, citing four US and Israeli officials, Galant assured the US government that he and the military would prevent Israelis from repopulating Gaza. A planned buffer zone in the area will be temporary in nature and only serve security purposes.
Israel’s army confirms flooding of Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip
Israel’s army has confirmed for the first time that it has flooded the Islamist Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip. The aim is to “neutralize the underground terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” the military said. Large amounts of water were channeled into the tunnels. The military spoke of a “significant technical and technological breakthrough” in the fight against terrorism.
According to the army, soil analyzes were carried out to ensure that the groundwater would not be affected by the flooding. Water was only pumped into suitable tunnel routes. The Israeli army continues to use explosives to destroy tunnels.
Hamas authority: 114 dead in Gaza within one day
As a result of the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, a total of 114 Palestinians were killed within 24 hours, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. The number of deaths in the coastal strip since the start of the war has risen to 26,751, a spokesman for the authority said. 65,636 people have been injured since then. The numbers cannot currently be independently verified.
According to the Israeli army, around 10,000 members of terrorist groups have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began. This information cannot currently be independently verified.
Blinken: The situation in the Middle East is more dangerous than it has been for a long time
According to US Secretary of State Blinken, the situation in the Middle East is more dangerous than it has been for a long time. “I maintain that we have not experienced a situation as dangerous as this in the entire region since at least 1973 – perhaps even before that,” Blinken said in Washington at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. With the year he was probably referring to the Yom Kippur War, which began on October 6, 1973, when an alliance of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria unexpectedly attacked Israel. At that time, more than 2,600 Israeli soldiers were killed and more than 7,000 were injured.
Special forces kill three Palestinian militants in clinic
Israeli special forces have killed three Palestinian militants in a hospital in the northern West Bank. The army said the target of the operation on Tuesday night was a member of the terrorist organization Hamas and two other extremist Palestinians with ties to Islamic Jihad. The men were hiding in the Ibn Sina Hospital.
Video footage from the hospital in the city of Jenin showed Israeli special forces entering the clinic, some disguised as medical staff.
According to the information, the wanted men came from the refugee district of the city of Jenin, which is considered a stronghold for militant Palestinians. The 27-year-old Hamas member was involved in various attacks on Israeli soldiers and was planning an imminent attack that was “inspired by the massacre on October 7th.” He also had connections to the Hamas leadership abroad. The military’s information could not initially be independently verified.
