Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the international community to replace the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following Israeli allegations that 12 of its staff members participated in the Hamas-led October 7 massacre attack.
“We exposed to the world that UNRWA is collaborating with Hamas, that some of its people even participated in the atrocities and abductions of October 7,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
“This only strengthens what we have known for a long time – UNRWA is not part of the solution, it is part of the problem.
“The time has come to begin the process of replacing UNRWA with other bodies that are not tainted by support for terrorism,” he stated.
Further pressure to stop UNRWA
Foreign Minister Israel Katz posed on X that the organization “perpetuates the false narrative of Palestinian ‘refugees’ needing to return to Israel. We are actively working to disengage UNRWA from Gaza. They are a part of the problem and not a part of the solution.”
Netanyahu and Katz pressed the issue after the Foreign Ministry provided UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini with the allegations last month, which led to the dismissal of nine staff members. A second internal Israeli report showed that 190 of the agency’s staff were Hamas members. The information behind the allegations has not been made public.
Upwards of 16 countries have since suspended funding to the agency, which services 5.9 million Palestinians in Gaza, the Wet Bank, east Jerusalem, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.
Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked told KAN she believes the window of opportunity to shut down UNRWA is now.
Calcalist reported on Sunday that Bank Leumi shut down UNRWA’s bank account due to the terror accusations.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also believes that UNRWA should be shut down, took issue with the way the information came to light, arguing that it ran counter to procedures.
It almost appears, based on reporting on the matter, including from the New York Times, that the information came to light only accidentally and against the wires of the army, Smotrich said. He noted that it was never brought to the security cabinet.
Smotrich asked to be provided with information about when the IDF knew about the staff members’ potential involvement, how and to whom the information was distributed, and why it was not passed onto the cabinet.
The IDF has long stood at odds with the political Right on the issue of UNRWA, arguing it to be an essential service provider for much-needed humanitarian assistance.
On Sunday, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was probing the allegations.
“We’re examining it, along with other like-minded countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and the US. We want that to be resolved,” Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp, according to a transcript.
Albanese said his government, which has suspended funding to UNRWA, wanted to make sure the accusations were “fully examined” so that all funding was “going to the purpose for which it is given.”
The prime minister added that he did not want people “literally starving” in Gaza and “the only organization that can provide that support there is UNRWA.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in January described UNRWA as “the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza” and has appealed to all countries to “guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s lifesaving work.”