Unrwa has come under criticism since Israel accused 12 of its 13,000 Gaza staff of being implicated in the 7 October Hamas attack on southern Israel. The agency denies the charge and says no solid evidence has been presented to support the allegations.
The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) launched an investigation on 29 January after the Israeli allegations. Parallel to that inquiry, a broader review of Unrwa's activities and neutrality is underway, led by a former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, and supported by three Nordic research organisations.
The Colonna review was commissioned by Guterres in January, before the Israeli allegations. The review group, which presented its interim findings on Tuesday, found Unrwa "has in place a significant number of mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance with the Humanitarian Principle of neutrality".
But the UN spokesperson Florencia Soto Nino said investigators had "also identified critical areas that still need to be addressed". She said the review group would "now develop concrete and realistic recommendations on how to address these critical areas to strengthen and improve Unrwa". The final report will be made public on 20 April.
This story is from the March 21, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the March 21, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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