Gaza Herald- The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is the “backbone” of aid work in Gaza and has no link to Hamas, a deputy spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday.
The comment came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was willing to work with the UN on aid in Gaza, but not UNRWA.
“UNRWA is not linked to Hamas. UNRWA is the backbone of our humanitarian operations in Gaza,” Farhan Haq, a UN spokesperson, said.
“There was a small number of staff members of UNRWA who were credibly linked to Hamas, and we have handled that situation and fired those personnel. Others were not found to have any links, or there was no evidence provided to back up any allegations,” he added.
Israel had previously made accusations against UNRWA, alleging that some of its employees participated in the October 7, 2023, attacks, claims that the agency strongly denied. The International Court of Justice in The Hague affirmed that Israel had not provided any evidence to support those allegations.
Rubio’s comments align with Israel’s continued opposition to UNRWA’s return to operations in Gaza, despite the ICJ’s ruling.
