The UN staff fired because of possible links to the October 7 attack

Nine staff members of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNWRA, may have been involved in the attack on Israel led by Hamas on the 7th, the United Nations said.

All nine have been terminated, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.

He said the UN has completed the investigation following the allegations made by Israel that UNWRA workers are involved.

About 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken back to Gaza as hostages in an unprecedented attack last fall.

Mr Haq did not specify what the involvement of the men would be.

“For us, any participation in the attack is a huge betrayal of the kind of work we should be doing for the Palestinian people,” he said.

The UN investigated a total of 19 UNWRA staff members, after Israel alleged that 12 were involved in the attack.

Israel later claimed that more than 450 UNWRA workers were members of terrorist groups, but a UN review published in April found that Israel had not provided evidence for its claims.

UNRWA, which employs 13,000 people in Gaza, said in March that some of its staff reported being pressured by Israeli authorities to make false statements while in custody.

Many countries have withdrawn funding to the UN organization because of Israel’s accusations.

In July, the UK joined other countries that have since resumed funding, leaving the US, UNRWA’s single largest donor, as the only country that has not resumed donations.