Israel alleges that 13 employees of the United Nations’ main relief agency in Gaza were associated with Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and took part in varying capacities, ranging from involvement in kidnapping hostages to being told to set up an operations room, according to the summary of the intelligence shared with CNN by an Israeli official.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) employs more than 13,000 people in Gaza and provides humanitarian support to the enclave.
CNN has not seen the intelligence that underlies the summary of allegations and cannot corroborate Israel’s claims about individual staffers or the agency's dynamic with Hamas and other groups operating in Gaza.
Of the 13 UNRWA employees alleged to have been associated with the attack, the Israeli document alleges 10 were Hamas operatives, two were Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives and one is unidentified.
Israel believes that six UNRWA employees infiltrated Israel as part of the attack, four were involved in kidnapping Israelis, and three additional UNRWA employees were “invited via a SMS text to arrive at an assembly area in the night before the attack and were directed to equip with weapons,” but their presence on October 7 was not confirmed. It also alleges that at least one UNRWA employee supplied logistic support to the attack.
This summary is part of what was provided to US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew and Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues Ambassador David Satterfield in a Friday briefing with Israel’s head of military intelligence, according to the Israeli official. The New York Times first reported the details of Israel’s allegations.
When asked about the allegations, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN secretary-general, said the UN had not received the dossier and that UNRWA operates in Gaza with the mandate of the UN General Assembly, a voting body of member states.
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