In the debate about payments to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), the Israeli government has appealed to members of the Bundestag to prevent a drain of German tax money to terrorists. This is evident from a letter obtained by WELT. “We ask you to formulate a clear demand that UNRWA immediately dismiss all terrorist employees employed by the organization,” it says.
A document sent by the Israeli embassy to members of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday also criticizes the UNRWA action plan, which the UN agency used to respond to Israeli accusations that it had been infiltrated by Hamas supporters.
“The UNRWA action plan completely ignores the most important question, namely how to address the problem of the massive employment of terrorists at UNRWA in Gaza,” the letter states. The UNRWA action plan mentions “neither Hamas nor the massive infiltration of terrorists” into the ranks of the agency. It continues: “The action plan ignores the fact that several UNRWA school principals are Hamas activists, including some who belong to the Nukhba, the elite Hamas force that led the October 7 massacre.”
At the end of January it became known that at least twelve UNRWA employees had been involved in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 in Israel. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, ten percent of the aid agency’s approximately 12,000 employees working in the Gaza Strip are said to have links to Hamas or the terrorist group Islamist Jihad.
In the wake of the allegations, UNRWA dismissed several employees. Several Western countries temporarily stopped payments to the aid agency, including the two largest donors, the USA and Germany. An independent commission of inquiry published a report in April on possible abuses at UNRWA – but the results fell short of the allegations made by Israel.
UNRWA has established a number of “robust” mechanisms to ensure that the principle of neutrality is upheld. However, there is room for improvement.
Aid money from Germany is now flowing into the Palestinian autonomous territories again – the Foreign Office announced at the end of April that it would also like to resume cooperation with UNRWA in the Gaza Strip. Germany is currently the largest contributor to UNRWA internationally.
On Wednesday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini even called for an increase in payments in the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Frank Müller-Rosentritt (FDP), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, sharply criticized Lazzarini’s behavior. “I hope that Lazzarini’s current visit to Berlin is not a promotional tour, but his farewell tour as UNRWA chief. Anyone who has looked the other way for years and done nothing in the face of massive accusations is no longer acceptable,” said Müller-Rosentritt.