UNRWA: Antony Blinken calls for the allegations against the Palestinian aid organization to be quickly clarified

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Palestinians in front of the logo of the UN relief organization UNRWA

Photo: Ashraf Amra/dpa

After the serious allegations against employees of the UN Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his call for a quick clarification - also so that the organization can continue to fulfill its role in the Gaza Strip. “It is imperative that UNRWA immediately launches an investigation as announced and, if necessary, holds people accountable,” Blinken said in Washington on Monday.

He emphasized that the aid organization plays "an absolutely indispensable role in ensuring that men, women and children who so urgently need help in Gaza actually receive it." No other organization has comparable reach, capacity and structure. »From our point of view it is important - more than important; imperative – that this role continues. “So this just underlines how important it is that UNRWA tackles this problem as quickly, effectively and thoroughly as possible.” They were not able to independently investigate the allegations, said Blinken. But they are extremely credible. If they are confirmed, appropriate measures would have to be taken “so that something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Twelve of the several thousand UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip are accused of being involved in the Hamas massacre in Israel. Important donors such as the USA, Great Britain and Germany have therefore stopped their payments to the aid organization in the Gaza Strip for the time being. The UN organization fired the employees and announced an investigation.

Israel calls for reform of UNRWA

Israel's ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, welcomed the fact that financial resources for UNRWA were now being withheld "on a large scale." But that could only be the beginning. »Anyone who wants peace must now work for complete information. “The way UNRWA is now, it cannot make a contribution to peace,” he told the “Tagesspiegel”. Israel is calling for comprehensive reform of the Palestinian aid organization.

“UNRWA has been in cahoots with the terrorists for a long time,” Prosor continued. The attackers of the Munich Olympic massacre in 1972 were already graduates of UNRWA schools. "And so it's no surprise that UNRWA employees were also involved in the kidnappings on October 7th."

The New York Times published new details on Sunday. Accordingly, a UN employee was involved in the kidnapping of a woman from Israel on October 7th, and another was handing out ammunition. And a third is said to have taken part in a massacre on a kibbutz in which 97 people died. According to the paper, the source of the report is an Israeli dossier that is available to the US government.

According to the UN, nine of the twelve accused were immediately released. Another is dead, the identities of the remaining two are still being determined.

The United Nations founded UNRWA in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees. The Palestinians who fled or were expelled in 1948 and their descendants are entitled to their services. According to the organization, there are now around 5.9 million people. UNRWA has more than 30,000 employees, most of them Palestinian. The aid organization employs around 13,000 people in the Gaza Strip alone. It also operates in Jordan and Lebanon, among other countries.

czl/dpa