UN chief vows immediate action on 'infiltration of Hamas' in UN
STORY: "One thing that you can be absolutely sure, any delegation that is presented to us by the government of Israel in relation to any other infiltration of Hamas in the U.N., at whatever level, we will act immediately upon it," Guterres told reporters on Thursday.
Israel last month accused 12 staff with the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency of taking part in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants. Of the remaining three staff - one is dead, while the U.N. was clarifying the identity of the other two.
An internal U.N. investigation has been launched as the United States - the largest donor to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) - and other countries paused funding in the wake of the allegations.
A six-page Israeli intelligence dossier, seen by Reuters, further alleges that some 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, have doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants.
However, Guterres and UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini have not received any further information from Israel since the initial accusations against the 12 staff were made. It was not clear if Israel had provided information to the internal U.N. inquiry.
Guterres defended the decision to fire the staff before an inquiry was complete, citing credible information from Israel, adding: "We couldn't run the risk not to act immediately as the accusations were related to criminal activities."
