A former UNRWA insider says Hamas influenced hiring in Gaza and that UN officials suppressed probes into possible terrorist ties.
A whistleblower has accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of misconduct in its Gaza Strip operations, alleging that senior officials permitted Hamas-affiliated entities to influence staffing and hindered internal investigations, Fox News reported Friday.
According to a confidential complaint obtained by Fox News, a former UNRWA employee claimed that the representatives from aid organizations such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) repeatedly ignored internal concerns about ties between its staff and Hamas, and even actively prevented oversight efforts.
The whistleblower, whose identity was not disclosed, wrote that the agency's hierarchy “systematically undermined” UN oversight mechanisms by refusing to approve routine investigations, allegedly to avoid political fallout.
Among the claims made in the complaint was that Hamas representatives were permitted to “vet and approve” candidates for employment within theGaza Strip. In one case, a candidate was reportedly hired as a school principal despite having previously been rejected for suspected affiliations with a terrorist organization, according to the document cited in the report.
The individual also alleged that the decisions of some UNRWA members, as well as members of other aid organizations, were...
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