UN investigates 'abhorrent' employees' involvement in October 7

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres vowed on Sunday to hold to account "any U.N. employee involved in acts of terror" after allegations that some refugee agency staffers were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

"Any U.N. employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution," the U.N. chief said in a statement. "The Secretariat is ready to cooperate with a competent authority able to prosecute the individuals in line with the Secretariat's normal procedures for such cooperation."

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At the same time, he said, "the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met."

In his first direct comments on the issue, the U.N. chief gave details about the UNRWA staffers implicated in the "abhorrent alleged acts." Of the 12 implicated, he said, nine had been sacked, one was confirmed dead and the identities of the other two were being clarified.

Six European countries paused funding for the UNRWA on Saturday, following the allegations that some of its staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

The UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland on Saturday joined the United States, Australia and Canada in pausing funding to the aid agency, a critical source of support for people in Gaza, after the allegations by Israel.

"While I understand their concerns – I was myself horrified by these accusations - I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA's operations," Guterres said.

Announcing the investigation, Lazzarini said on Friday that he had decided to terminate the contracts of some staff members to protect the agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance.

Lazzarini did not disclose the number of employees allegedly involved in the attacks, nor the nature of their alleged involvement. He said, however, that "any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror" would be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up public pressure on Qatar to bring about the release of Gaza hostages on Saturday, saying the Gulf emirate should apply the leverage it has as a host and funder of the Hamas militants holding them.

The unusually blunt remarks came on the eve of what Reuters sources have described as a meeting among the Qatari prime minister and intelligence chiefs from Israel, the United States and Egypt to discuss a potential new deal to free hostages.

Those talks were expected to take place in an undisclosed location in Europe on Sunday, the sources said. Officials from the four countries have not formally confirmed the meeting, however.

"Qatar hosts the leaders of Hamas. It also funds Hamas. It has leverage over Hamas," Netanyahu said in a televised news conference. "So they should be so good as to apply their pressure. They positioned themselves as mediators - so please go right ahead, let them be so good as to bring back our hostages."

Qatar and Egypt have open channels to Israel and Hamas, and brokered a November truce in which Hamas freed some of the 253 people it seized in an Oct. 7 cross-border rampage that triggered the Gaza war. In return, Israel approved increased aid for the devastated enclave and released scores of Palestinian prisoners.

Efforts to get a follow-up deal to return at least some of the 132 remaining hostages appear to be flagging, and protests in Israel demanding that the government do more are spreading.

There was no immediate Qatari response to Netanyahu's comments. On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry in Doha said it was "appalled" by remarks by Netanyahu, leaked to Israeli TV, in which he described himself as refraining from thanking Qatar for its mediation and deemed the gas-rich emirate "problematic."

Asked in his Saturday briefing about that exchange, Netanyahu said: "I don't take back a single word."

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