The U.N. agency charged with providing relief to Palestinians has fired several employees over their alleged involvement in the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The United Nations agency tasked with delivering aid to millions of people in Gaza has seen its funding suspended by several nations following revelations that employees may have been involved in the October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people. The controversy comes at a time when intense fighting is continuing around hospitals and aid facilities in southern Gaza. Joining me to discuss the latest from Tel Aviv is NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel. Hey, Geoff.
GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: So this agency is among the most important entities operating in Gaza. Who has suspended their funding and why?
BRUMFIEL: This all began when Israeli authorities found evidence that United Nations employees had been involved in October 7. In a statement to NPR, the Israeli military said its intelligence directorate had reviewed the events around October 7, and as it did so, it found incriminating evidence that several of the agency’s employees were involved in the massacre and that U.N. facilities were actually used for terrorist purposes.
Now, the U.N. isn’t providing further details for now, but Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he was horrified by the allegations. The employees were fired, and the U.N. has launched an investigation. The US State Department says that 12 employees in total were involved, and it also said it was pausing funding to the agency in question while it looked into the allegations and the steps the U.N. was taking to address them. Today, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Italy were among the other countries that followed suit imposed their funding.
DETROW: Tell us more about this agency, though, the work it does and why it is so central to helping Palestinians.
BRUMFIEL: Yeah, its name is a little bit of a mouthful….
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply