An independent review of the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, found that Israel had not expressed any concerns about staff lists received annually since 2011. This contradicts allegations made by Israel that a dozen UNRWA employees had participated in Hamas attacks in October 2022.
The review, led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, acknowledged “robust” procedures within UNRWA to uphold neutrality but identified serious implementation gaps. These included staff publicly expressing political views, textbooks used in UNRWA schools containing “problematic content,” and staff unions disrupting operations.
From 2017 to 2022, the number of neutrality breach allegations against UNRWA ranged from seven to 55 annually. However, between January 2022 and February 2024, UN investigators received 151 allegations, mostly related to social media posts.
Regarding staff neutrality, the review noted that UNRWA shares staff lists with host countries, including Israel, for its 32,000 employees. However, Israeli officials stated that they did not consider the list a screening or vetting process but rather a procedure to register diplomats. They also acknowledged that until March 2024, the staff lists did not include Palestinian identification numbers.
Despite these findings, Israel has publicly claimed that a significant number of UNRWA employees are members of terrorist organizations, without providing supporting evidence. These allegations prompted several countries, including the United States, to suspend contributions to UNRWA, resulting in a funding pause of approximately $450 million.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has criticized the Colonna report, calling it insufficient and cosmetic. However, Colonna urged Israel to take the recommendations seriously, emphasizing the importance of UNRWA in providing humanitarian aid and essential social services to Palestinian refugees.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric welcomed the commitment to UNRWA and said the report “lays out clear recommendations, which the secretary-general accepts.” UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini has also accepted the recommendations and stressed that dismantling UNRWA would deepen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Meanwhile, a separate investigation by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services is underway to examine the Israeli allegations of UNRWA staff involvement in the October 2022 attacks.
