THE UNITED NATIONS has said it has fired nine employees of its agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) who “may have been involved” in the Hamas-led 7 October attack on southern Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

“We have sufficient information in order to take the actions that we’re taking – which is to say, the termination of these nine individuals,” UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

Haq said the organisation will need to evaluate any further steps to “fully corroborate.”

Haq was speaking after the UN’s oversight body completed its investigation into the allegations made earlier this year by Israel that a total of 19 UNRWA employees may have been involved in the attack.

That prompted many governments, including top donor the United States, to abruptly suspend funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver aid in Gaza. Several countries have since resumed payments.

Ireland was one country that did not opt to suspend financial support for UNRWA, with Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin describing the agency’s work as “vital”. 

UNRWA also suspended 12 staff members pending the UN investigation.

The October attack resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP news agency tally based on Israeli official figures.

Palestinian fighters also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

Israel’s siege, bombardment and invasion of Gaza has since killed at least 39,550 people, according to the territory’s health ministry.

UNRWA, which has provided essential aid for Palestinian refugees since 1949, has long been targeted by Israel.

Earlier this year, UNRWA’s chief Philippe Lazzarini called for Israel to “stop its campaign” against the organization, citing “outrageous” attacks on its employees, facilities and operations.

The allegations against UNRWA were first published in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal in January, with the WSJ adding a claim that around 10% of the organisation’s 12,000 staff had links to militant groups.

Today, Semafor published a story detailing how the WSJ has yet to substantiate the 10% claim, which it said was based on Israeli intelligence. 

According to Semafor, “the paper’s top editor overseeing standards privately made an admission: The paper didn’t know — and still doesn’t know —whether the allegation, based on Israeli intelligence reports, was true”.

With reporting from AFP