Thanks for your question. Israel has terrible relations with the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees. Since October 7, 2023, these relations have deteriorated further, while the Israeli government accused, in January, twelve UNRWA employees of having participated in the massacres carried out by Hamas. However, the agency’s director, Philippe Lazzarini, had not received any official report from Israeli authorities detailing the nature of the alleged acts of the incriminated employees. The UN launched an investigation.
Other Israeli accusations have also been made, fueling the theory of collusion between Hamas and UNRWA. The agency was accused in particular of having knowledge of the existence of a Hamas tunnel built under its headquarters in Gaza. Mr. Lazzarini denied it.
Relations between Israel and UNRWA have long been stormy. The agency is seen as too local – 99% of its 30,000-strong staff, including 13,000 in Gaza, are Palestinian – and too militant. It is accused of keeping the beneficiaries of its services in their identity as refugees, of maintaining the memory of the Nakba (the founding tragedy of 1948, when 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their land by the nascent State of Israel, and of obstruct the situation). , by doing so, peace. This did not prevent the Israeli army from defending, for a long time, its role as a social stabilizer in the Palestinian territories, thanks to the services (education, health, etc.) it provides.
