After The ICJ Ruled That Israel’s Genocide In Gaza Is Plausible, Israel Accused 12 UN Workers In Palestine For Working For Hamas

After the ICJ found a plausible case of genocide, Israel accused 12 UN workers in Gaza of working for Hamas.

Israel made the accusations against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees – also known as UNRWA – around the same time the International Court of Justice began its hearing on South Africa’s case of Israel committing genocide in Gaza.

Even though Israel’s accusations have not been verified, several western countries immediately suspended funding to the UNRWA after the allegations came to light on Jan. 26, the same day the ICJ ordered Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza.

UNRWA is the main humanitarian agency in Gaza, and the only one that has been allowed in to deliver aid since Israel began its war that has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians.

An estimated one million Palestinians in Gaza are now seeking shelter at UNRWA schools and centers after being forced from their homes.

The countries that cut funding – including the US, UK, Germany, Japan and Sweden – had been the main source of the agency’s funds.

UNRWA said that two of the accused staff had already been killed by Israel in the war, one person was still being identified, but it has fired the other nine and launched an investigation.

On Monday Jan. 30, Israel said it had shared a document of its “evidence” with the US, but it did not share it with the UN, according to Al Jazeera.

There are now differing reports about the actual number of the staff Israel has accused, with later reports saying it was only four workers.

12 workers is just 0.04% of the 30,000 people employed by the UNRWA.

Rights groups such as Amnesty International slammed the western countries’ decision to cut the funding that is supporting 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza over the alleged crimes of just 12 people.

Others said that the countries would never defund an entire university if a janitor was found to be a terrorist or an entire police force if a member turned out to be a white supremacist.

Countries that have not pulled aid, such as Norway, also pointed out that it is difficult to have zero risk in an organization of 30,000 people, urging other countries not to add to the collective punishment of Palestinians.

A UN expert said that the decision to suspend funding could violate the Genocide Convention and defies the ICJ’s ruling, which called on Israel to allow aid into Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly targeted UN facilities in Gaza since Oct. 7, killing 152 UNRWA workers, the most killed in the entire history of the UN.

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