Headline Roundup • January 30th, 2024
Israeli Intel Reportedly Suggests 10% of UNRWA Staffers Linked to Islamic Terror
Summary from the AllSides News Team
An Israeli intelligence dossier reportedly alleges that 10% of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) nearly 13,000 employees are connected to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The Details: The dossier reportedly claims that 190 UNRWA employees, some who double as teachers, are “hardened militants.” It has not been made public.
For Context: Israeli officials accused 12 staffers of participating in Hamas’ October 7 terror attack, which prompted the U.S. to halt funding to the organization on Friday. The UNRWA fired the 12 accused, but many Western nations have followed Washington’s lead.
Who Saw The Memo?: The “10% detail” was initially reported by The Wall Street Journal (Center bias) on January 29. Reuters (Center bias) was the first to report the detail about the “hardened” militants.
How The Media Covered It: Some outlets framed headlines around these details, like The Times of Israel (Center bias) and The New York Post (Lean Right bias), although coverage was most common on the Right. Reuters’ coverage initially did not include the “10% detail” but was updated late on January 29. Israeli outlet Haaretz (Lean Left bias) republished a Reuters’ wire with a subheadline framed around the detail. The New York Times (Lean Left bias), instead of updating its January 28 coverage, published a new article featuring the “10% detail” late on January 29.
Featured Coverage of this Story
REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo/File Photo
An Israeli intelligence dossier that prompted a cascade of countries to halt funds for a U.N. Palestinian aid agency includes allegations that some staff took part in abductions and killings during the Oct. 7 raid that sparked the Gaza war.
The six-page dossier, seen by Reuters, alleges that some 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, have doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants. It has names and pictures for 11 them.
The United Nations has not formally received a copy of the dossier, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
The Palestinians have accused Israel of...
APA IMAGES/ZUMA PRESS
At least 12 employees of the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency had connections to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and around 10% of all of its Gaza staff have ties to Islamist militant groups, according to intelligence reports reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Six United Nations Relief and Works Agency workers were part of the wave of Palestinian militants who killed 1,200 people in the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust, according to the intelligence dossier. Two helped kidnap Israelis. Two others were tracked to sites where scores of Israeli civilians were...
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images
Roughly 10 percent of staffers with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the international body's aid group for Palestinian refugees, have ties to terrorist groups, according to a Monday Wall Street Journal report.
About 1,200 employees, 10 percent of the agency's 12,000 Gazan workers, are linked to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Journal reported, citing Israeli intelligence reports the Jewish state shared with American officials. The intelligence found that 49 percent of UNRWA staffers had close relatives with official ties to the groups, and 23 percent of male UNRWA employees had...
