Israeli intelligence reports obtained by NBC News claim that at least 12 employees of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees played a part in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. The workers are accused of actions ranging from kidnapping Israelis to providing logistical support. Among the accused are seven teachers, two school administrators, and a social worker employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides education, food and health care to a large percentage of the roughly 2 million people living in Gaza.According to the intelligence reports, a counselor at an UNRWA school is alleged to have taken part in the kidnapping of a female hostage, while an elementary school teacher is accused of participating in the attack on Re’im. Another teacher is alleged to have equipped himself with anti-tank weapons the night before the attack. Moreover, a math teacher said to be a Hamas operative is accused of having photographed a woman who was kidnapped, and another math teacher from a different Hamas battalion is accused of crossing into Israeli territory on the day of the attack. The information compiled in the two dossiers was shared with U.S. officials on Wednesday, leading to the suspension of financial support to the organization by the U.S. and several other countries including the U.K., Germany, and Finland. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has announced that several employees have been terminated and an investigation has been launched to establish the truth without delay. Of the 12 employees implicated, nine were immediately identified and terminated, one was confirmed dead, and the identities of two others were under investigation, the U.N. said. “Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in a statement. The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
Israel has long accused UNRWA of being used by Hamas to conceal weapons and entrances to tunnels. Current and former Israeli security officials have stated that Hamas has used UNRWA schools and hospitals as cover for its terrorist operations and in fighting the Israeli Defense Forces during the current war.UNRWA has denied the allegations.
The dossiers were made public following a series of allegations against UNRWA since the start of the war, including from a returned hostage who claimed he was held captive in the home of an UNRWA teacher. The intelligence dossiers have shaken the international aid community at a critical time when Gaza is facing a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel has been retaliating against Gaza with attacks for months following the Hamas terrorist attack, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and led to the kidnappings of at least 200 people, according to the Israeli government. More than 100 hostages, including 14 women and two young children, are still being held in Gaza. Officials with the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry state that over 26,000 Gazans, many of them women and children, have been killed since the start of the war. This is not the first time the U.S. has halted funding to UNRWA. The Trump administration stopped payments in 2018, but the Biden administration restored funding in 2021.UNRWA officials have expressed concern over the suspension of funding by various countries and warned that it will have dire consequences, saying, “The lives of people in Gaza depend on this support and so does regional stability,” according to Lazzarini. During a briefing, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby emphasized that those implicated in the intelligence reports represent only a small fraction of the people who work at UNRWA. He stated, “Let’s not impugn the good work of a whole agency because of the potential bad actions here by a small number.”
