An independent review group on the UN agency for Palestinians has released its much-anticipated report, dismissing Israel’s claims of UNRWA staff being members of terrorist organizations due to lack of evidence.
The 54-page report, led by French diplomat Catherine Colonna, emphasized that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) remains “irreplaceable and indispensable to Palestinians’ human and economic development.”
The review group was established following Israel’s allegations in January that some UNRWA staff may have been involved in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.
This led to several donor states suspending or pausing around $450 million in funding. While countries such as Sweden, Canada, Japan, the EU, and France have since resumed funding, the United States and Britain have not.
In fact, Congress passed a bill, signed into law by President Joe Biden, blocking US funding until March 2025.
The freezes on aid to Gaza’s main aid organ come at a time when Israeli military operations have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, turning the territory into what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as a “humanitarian hellscape.”
With 2.3 million people in desperate need of food, water, shelter, and medicine, the situation remains dire.
Colonna’s team was tasked with assessing UNRWA’s efforts to maintain neutrality.
The review found “neutrality-related issues persist,” such as staff sharing biased political posts on social media and the use of some textbooks with “problematic content” in UNRWA schools.
However, it stressed that Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence for its claim that over 400 UNRWA employees are “terrorists.”
During a briefing with reporters, Colonna expressed confidence that implementing necessary measures will help UNRWA fulfill its mandate.
She encouraged the international community to support the agency in delivering its mission effectively. Guterres’ spokesperson confirmed that the Secretary-General accepts the recommendations outlined in Colonna’s report.
