Bassam Tawill
Gatestone Institute, Jan. 29, 2024
“There is no reason why the UN and its heads should be “horrified.””
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), has announced that he decided to fire several employees of his agency after Israeli authorities provided information about their “alleged” involvement in Hamas’s massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023.
“To protect the Agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay,” Lazzarini said. “Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified” by the Israeli accusations.
Guterres asked the UNRWA chief to investigate the involvement of the employees in the Hamas atrocities and “ensure that any UNRWA employee shown to have participated in what transpired on October 7 or any other criminal activity be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution,” said UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. “An urgent comprehensive review of UNRWA will be conducted.”
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