مدونة جعفر عبد الكريم الخابوري

The final report of the independent review committee appointed by the United Nations regarding Israeli allegations of the involvement of employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) revealed that Israel failed to provide evidence to support its accusations to this UN body regarding the employment of people belonging to “terrorist groups.” », in addition to emphasizing that the agency has strong frameworks to ensure compliance with the principles of humanitarian neutrality, despite the persistence of some problems.



United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres formed this independent committee, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, following Israeli allegations in late January of the involvement of 12 UNRWA employees in a Hamas attack against the Israeli settlements and kibbutzim surrounding Gaza on July 7. Last October.


These allegations prompted the United States, in addition to more than a dozen countries, to suspend its funding to UNRWA, although many of them have since resumed payments.



Israel has long pressed to close UNRWA under the pretext that it helps perpetuate the conflict with the Palestinians. Because it grants refugee status to the descendants of those who were displaced from their country. Israel also accuses the agency of employing “anti-Semitic” people and using textbooks that Israel considers “inflammatory.”



The United Nations immediately distanced itself from the accused staff and launched an internal investigation. Likewise, Guterres commissioned the committee headed by Colonna to conduct a comprehensive review of the agency's neutrality.



Although Colonna and members of her team conducted interviews with UNRWA employees as well as Israeli and Palestinian officials, the independent commission, which includes three research organizations: the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Michelsen Center for Human Rights in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights, noted that UNRWA Israel regularly provides lists of the names of its employees for audit, adding that “the Israeli government has not reported any concerns to UNRWA regarding any UNRWA employees based on employee lists since 2011.”



The committee stressed that Israel has not yet proven any of its broader allegations about the involvement of UNRWA employees in Hamas or Islamic Jihad activities, noting that last March “Israel issued public allegations that a large number of UNRWA employees ) Members of terrorist organizations (...) However, Israel has not yet provided supporting evidence on this.”

Jaafar Abdul Karim Al Khabouri