On January 26, the same day the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an interim judgment in a South African case accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinian people, the Israeli government dropped a bombshell. It was no ordinary 900kg American bunker buster, but something far more deadly. Twelve employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) have been accused of having ties to Hamas or being involved in the October 7 operation. . More than a dozen countries immediately cut off their financial support to the agency, and UNRWA Director-General Philippe Lazzarini fired nine of the accused (of the other three, one died and two went missing). not clear).
Given how little aid is flowing to Gaza and the impending starvation of people, especially in northern Gaza, cutting off funding to UNRWA now would be worse than collective punishment, leaving many in extreme poverty. could be a death sentence for starving Palestinians.
UNRWA provides relief to all Palestinian refugees, originally defined as “those who resided in Palestine between June 1, 1946 and May 15, 1948, and who lost both their homes and means of livelihood.” It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1949 to provide: Livelihoods as a result of the 1948 war. This definition has been expanded to include persons displaced by “hostilities since 1967.”
Currently, UNRWA has a staff of 30,000 people, primarily Palestinian doctors, nurses, educators, relief workers, drivers, technicians, and logistics workers, who serve millions of people across the Middle East. It provides humanitarian relief, medical care, education, and other assistance to Palestinian refugees. In Gaza, UNRWA's 13,000 staff have supported almost every aspect of Palestinian life, especially since Israel, with Egyptian support, imposed a blockade of the Strip in 2007.
Critics point out that the United Nations has delegated to UNRWA important international legal obligations that Israel would otherwise owe as an occupying power. Under the Geneva Conventions, basic services such as shelter, health care and education in occupied territories are the responsibility of the occupying power. In effect, the UN has thus assisted and perhaps prolonged Israel's occupation of the Palestinian people.
From Israel's perspective, UNRWA is another enemy that has prolonged Palestinian resistance to the occupation. This is a “barrier” to solving the Palestinian refugee problem simply by resettling them in other countries, as is currently being openly advocated. For all Israeli governments, the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions and international law regarding the inalienable “right of return” of Palestinians forcibly removed from their homelands by Zionist militias and later Israeli forces in 1948 is an abomination to the existence of Israel.
The charges against the 12 UNRWA officials should be understood in this context. It's also important to remember who made it. Israel is an occupying power facing allegations of genocide deemed plausible by the ICJ. Israeli forces repeatedly attacked UN-protected facilities, including schools and hospitals, killing thousands of civilians, mainly children and women, and 152 UNRWA personnel who had taken refuge within UNRWA compounds. Israel also has a long history of unsubstantiated accusations against UNRWA personnel, repeatedly lying about alleged crimes committed by Palestinians (such as the beheading of 40 infants on October 7) in the context of the current conflict. It has been discovered that there was.
Buoyed by hasty UN decisions taken without establishing a prima facie case through investigation, Israel now claims that 10 percent of its Gaza-based personnel have ties to “extremist groups.” There is.
The United Nations' internal rules require due process in the event of allegations of wrongdoing. If serious allegations, supported by incontrovertible evidence, are raised against UN staff, the UN Secretary-General has the power to order the immediate dismissal of the accused staff. Such extreme cases are rare.
In other cases, a commission of inquiry is usually established to investigate the most serious incidents, or the accusations are taken up by the United Nations Internal Investigation Division, which may launch a formal investigation based on preliminary evidence. there is. During that time, staff members accused of misconduct may be suspended.
In the case of the 12 UNRWA personnel accused by Israel, immediate dismissal was a surprising decision, especially considering the circumstances of the case (all-out war and likely genocide), and the credibility of the accusers forced a cautious approach. It should be.
However, UN leadership quickly abandoned the presumption of innocence for its personnel. On January 28, UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement saying, “Nine of the 12 people involved were immediately identified and dismissed by UNRWA Director-General Philippe Lazzarini. One person was confirmed dead. The identities of the remaining two have been revealed. United Nations personnel involved in acts of terrorism will be held accountable.'' Guterres said in a statement that “the alleged abhorrent acts of these personnel will have consequences.'' It must be,” he added.
It appears that the Secretary-General has already ruled on the case and promised “results”. He has shown no evidence of such outrages, and has not held Israel accountable for the killing of his own staff members. As if such war crimes weren't abhorrent acts with consequences.
As Guterres has acknowledged, firing staff at will based solely on “allegations” is problematic and should be a concern to all UN staff and staff unions.
However, a more worrying and serious situation is that the United States, Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, and the United Kingdom have withdrawn funds to UNRWA during the emergency period. The decision was made quickly to stop providing the service. All-out war against the people it was founded to protect.
Worse, at a time when Israel is on trial before the ICJ, facing plausible charges that it has committed genocide, such decisions are seen by these countries as a violation of their obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention. There is even a possibility that it will happen. But parts of that same government have chosen to overlook the many war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel and continue military support for the onslaught on Gaza, now in its fourth month. This is not surprising since there are.
After all, even if the 12 accused officials were convicted of felonies, that would hardly justify UNRWA's funding to save Palestinians from starvation in Gaza. He said that cutting down a 70-year-old olive tree because it may have 12 “bad” olives is not only collective punishment, it is promoting genocide. Become.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.