UNRWA
UNRWAMiriam Alster/Flash 90

The New York Times on Sunday published details on the accusations that Israel has levelled at workers of UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, who are suspected of taking part in the Hamas attack on October 7.

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, according to The New York Times.

Two Western officials confirmed on the condition of anonymity that they had been briefed on the contents of the dossier in recent days, but said they had not been able to verify the details. Although the United States has yet to corroborate the Israeli claims itself, American officials say they found them credible enough to warrant suspending aid.

The Israeli dossier, presented to US officials on Friday, lists the names and jobs of the UNRWA employees and the allegations against them, according to The Times.

The dossier said that Israeli intelligence officers had established the movements of six of the men inside Israel on October 7 based on their phones; others had been monitored while making phone calls inside Gaza during which, the Israelis say, they discussed their involvement in the Hamas attack.

Three others got text messages ordering them to report to muster points on Oct. 7, and one was told to bring rocket-propelled grenades stored at his home, according to the dossier.

Since Friday, a host of countries have announced they would be suspending funding to UNRWA, after its commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, announced that the UN agency has launched an investigation into employees who were allegedly involved in the October 7 attacks.

The US was the first to announce it paused funding to UNRWA, and it was followed by Canada, Australia, the UK, and Finland.

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.

UN officials have urged the countries who have paused the funding to UNRWA to reconsider their decision.