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The United Nations company tasked with aiding refugees within the Gaza Strip doesn’t perform exhaustive background checks of its staff, however it delivers an inventory of its 1000’s of workers members within the enclave to Israeli authorities yearly, present and former officers within the group mentioned on Monday.
The company, often called UNRWA, was thrust right into a disaster over the weekend, after Israel on Friday accused 12 of the group’s staff of taking part within the Hamas-led assaults on Oct. 7 or their aftermath. A number of donor nations, together with the USA, have briefly suspended funding to the aid group, elevating considerations that entry to desperately wanted assist in Gaza shall be in the reduction of.
Juliette Touma, the director of communications for UNRWA, mentioned the company wasn’t geared up to hold out in depth background checks of candidates, however she emphasised it performs reference checks and investigates considerations raised about particular person staffers.
“We’re a humanitarian group, not a authorities,” she mentioned in an interview, noting that the Israeli authorities had not objected to its newest record of staff. The company employs about 13,000 folks in Gaza.
Lior Haiat, spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of International Affairs, confirmed UNRWA shares lists of staff with Israeli officers, however mentioned they embrace minimal info and referred to staff as of many months earlier. Mr. Haiat argued that it was UNRWA’s — not Israel’s — duty to display staff.
UNRWA, the most important assist group in Gaza, introduced on Friday that it might hearth the workers accused of taking part within the assaults. (On Sunday, the U.N. secretary basic mentioned 9 of the workers had been dismissed, and the help company mentioned two had been useless.) UNRWA mentioned that the U.N.’s highest investigative physique had began analyzing the allegations.
Matthias Schmale, the director of UNRWA operations in Gaza from 2017 to 2021, mentioned staff signal a pledge to stay impartial, they usually take part in recurring workshops that encourage refraining from partaking in political exercise or violence.
“I believe we did one of the best we are able to in very tense political circumstances and with restricted assets,” he mentioned, including that the staff devoted to implementing neutrality in Gaza was halved throughout his tenure due to the Trump administration’s funding cuts. Tamara Alrifai, one other UNRWA spokeswoman, mentioned that after President Biden restored funding to the company, a few of these positions had been introduced again.
Nonetheless, Mr. Schmale mentioned, those that violated the group’s insurance policies confronted swift penalties. Eight staff, he mentioned, had been dismissed below his look ahead to neutrality violations, their use of social media and bodily abuse. One worker, he mentioned, was found to be a member of Hamas’s navy wing after UNRWA workers found pictures proving their membership within the militant group.
Mr. Schmale himself has been caught in controversy. In 2021, Hamas accused him of creating remarks that minimized the toll of Israeli strikes throughout a quick conflict in Gaza that 12 months, and amid protests he was reassigned by UNRWA. He later walked again the feedback and expressed regret over them.
He mentioned on Monday that the “greatest deterrent” to neutrality violations was self-discipline, noting Palestinians in Gaza need to maintain their jobs with the U.N., particularly due to extreme unemployment within the territory. The tiny enclave, the place greater than two million folks reside, had a virtually 50 p.c unemployment fee earlier than the conflict.
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