An independent review of the UN agency aiding Palestinian refugees found that Israel did not express any concern about the staff lists it had been receiving since 2011. This review was prompted when Israel accused a dozen UNRWA employees of involvement in Hamas’ attacks on October 7. The panel’s 48-page report highlighted that UNRWA has strong procedures to maintain neutrality but identified gaps in implementation, such as staff expressing political views, problematic content in textbooks, and staff unions causing disruptions. The review made 50 recommendations to enhance UNRWA’s neutrality.
Between 2017 and 2022, the number of allegations of neutrality breaches at UNRWA ranged from seven to 55 annually. However, from January 2022 to February 2024, UN investigators received 151 allegations, with most linked to publicly shared social media posts. The report also addressed the neutrality of UNRWA staff, sharing that the agency provides host countries with staff lists for its 32,000 employees, with about 13,000 in Gaza. Israeli officials did not express concerns about the lists, stating they saw them as registration procedures for diplomats rather than vetting processes.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry informed the panel that prior to March 2024, the staff lists did not include Palestinian identification numbers. Israel has claimed that a significant number of UNRWA employees were members of terrorist organizations based on these numbers, but the panel noted that Israel has not provided evidence to support these claims to the refugee agency. Former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who led the panel, emphasized that the review was focused on determining UNRWA’s neutrality, not investigating the Israeli allegations of employee involvement in the October 7 attacks.
The report highlighted concerns about the neutrality of UNRWA, pointing out specific issues such as staff expressing political views, problematic content in textbooks used in agency-run schools, and disruptions caused by staff unions. The independent panel recommended 50 improvements to enhance UNRWA’s neutrality based on their findings. Despite allegations from Israel regarding UNRWA staff members’ connections to terrorist organizations, the panel noted that Israel had not provided supporting evidence to the refugee agency to substantiate these claims.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed the independent review panel to assess UNRWA’s neutrality, without the mandate to investigate Israeli allegations of UNRWA staff involvement in the October 7 attacks. Guterres ordered a separate investigation by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services to look into these specific allegations. The panel led by Catherine Colonna noted that Israel had not raised any concerns about the staff lists provided by UNRWA, indicating that the lists were not considered by Israeli officials as vetting procedures but rather as a registration process for diplomats.
