The European Commission on Monday called on UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, to investigate all of its staff in order to ensure they were not involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack.
The call came days after UNRWA dismissed nine of its works after Israel provided evidence that they were involved in the Hamas attack.
“The European Commission will determine upcoming funding decisions for UNRWA in light of the very serious allegations made on 24 January relating to the involvement of UNRWA staff in the heinous 7 October attacks,” the Commission said in a statement.
“The Commission will review the matter in light of the outcome of the investigation announced by the UN and the actions it will take. The Commission welcomes the information provided by UNRWA as well as the launch of the investigation,” it added.
The European Commission said it “expects UNRWA to agree to carrying out an audit of the Agency to be conducted by EU appointed independent external experts, reviewing, thereby the pillar assessment, focusing specifically on the control systems needed to prevent the possible involvement of its staff in terrorist activities. It also expects a strengthening of UNRWA's Department of Internal Investigations (DIOS) which is key in this regard.”
“Finally, a review of all UNRWA staff should be launched soonest to confirm that they did not participate in the attacks,” the statement concluded.
The US announced on Friday it has temporarily paused funding to UNRWA following allegations that 12 of its employees may have been involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
Washington’s announcement came after UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini announced that the UN agency has launched an investigation into the employees who were allegedly involved in the October 7 attacks, adding it has severed ties with those staff members.
The US was followed by Canada, Australia, the UK, and Finland who announced the suspension of aid to UNRWA.
On Saturday, Germany, Scotland, and the Netherlands announced that they would suspend funding for UNRWA. France followed suit on Sunday and Japan made a similar announcement as well.
The New York Times on Sunday published details on the accusations that Israel has levelled at workers of UNRWA.
According to the report, one of the UNRWA workers is accused of kidnapping a woman, another is said to have handed out ammunition and a third was described as taking part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered.
The accusations are contained in a dossier provided to the United States government that details Israel’s claims against a dozen employees of UNRWA.