The UN's coordinator for Gaza aid, Sigrid Kaag, claimed on Tuesday that nothing can "replace or substitute" UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, AFP reported.
"There is no way that any organization can replace or substitute (the) tremendous capacity, the fabric of UNRWA -- (their) ability and their knowledge of the population in Gaza," Kaag was quoted as having said.
Her comments come after several countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan, have suspended funding to UNRWA after Israel alleged that 12 of its employees were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
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 the 12 UNRWA employees.
The European Commission on Monday called on UNRWA to investigate all of its staff in order to ensure they were not involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack.
The European Commission said in a statement 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 added.
Even before October 7, UNRWA has come under fire over its ties to Hamas. During the 2014 counterterrorism Operation Protective Edge, Hamas rockets were discovered inside a school building run by UNRWA.
Likewise, a booby-trapped UNRWA clinic was detonated, killing three IDF soldiers. Aside from the massive amounts of explosives hidden in the walls of the clinic, it was revealed that it stood on top of dozens of terror tunnels, showing how UNRWA is closely embedded with Hamas.
During the current war against Hamas, it was discovered that a hostage kidnapped by Hamas to Gaza was held for 50 days in the attic of an UNRWA teacher.
In late December, a resident of the Gaza Strip told the IDF that Hamas directly controls UNRWA, saying that “the situation is terrible because the humanitarian people, those responsible for the humanitarian aid, are thieves.”