UN Agency Staff Accused of Stealing Gaza Humanitarian Aid and Selling for Personal Gain by Watchdog
Switzerland-based UN Watch stated in a report dated May 8 that it had examined several allegations.
An international watchdog accused UNRWA staff of taking humanitarian aid intended for Gaza residents and selling it for profit.
The watch group also stated that Palestinians who expose abuses by UNRWA staff face retaliation, and UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini is reportedly ignoring the issue.
According to UN Watch, employees expressed deep frustration over senior UNRWA staff’s involvement in misconduct and the agency’s lack of action regarding it.
Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s communications director, mentioned in an email to The Epoch Times that the agency is aware of the report and is looking into the allegations with plans to provide a response in due course.
This is not the first time UNRWA has been under scrutiny for embarrassing allegations.
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There have been allegations that some UNRWA personnel were involved in the Hamas terrorist group’s deadly rampage on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis and numerous abductions, leading to the U.S. State Department halting funding to the agency.
More Details
The UN Watch claims are sourced from an online chatroom managed by Haitham al-Sayyed, a former UNRWA employee who was fired after publicly revealing the agency’s concealment of a map in an UNRWA school that denied Israel’s existence.
During his 17-year tenure at the agency, Mr. al-Sayyed started several online chatrooms where employees and educators shared posts with “antisemitism, incitement to hatred, and Jihadi extremism,” as per UN Watch.
He continues to oversee these chat rooms, with some featuring revelations from UNRWA employees exposing agency wrongdoing.
One message cited by UN Watch states, “I am completely dissatisfied with the school administration and its honesty in distributing aid due to the thefts.”
Another message pointed out, “The displaced people in the external shelter do not get their right to food and non-food aid, but rather it is distributed at night and sold in front of our eyes, for example with baby pampers.”
The whistleblower alleged that anyone who speaks up about aid theft is removed from their position and transferred.
“They did not tolerate what happened in the school, especially the theft of diesel, as our school remained for more than a month without electricity or it came for a few minutes under the pretext that the motor was in another school,” the whistleblower added, noting that “the thief was exposed and the principal was informed, but to this day he is still working with us so that I feel like vomiting when I see him.”
Other messages revealed by UN Watch claim that UNRWA staff stole boxes of food and non-food items like tarps which were then sold to those in need.
Overall, the posts expose a widespread problem of aid mismanagement within the agency.
Established in 1949, UNRWA’s mission is to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees, operating in areas like the Gaza Strip where Israel is conducting military operations against Hamas, which uses the region for attacks.
While some view UNRWA as a crucial service provider for vulnerable Arab populations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, others see it as contributing to the crisis and hindering peace—many argue it plays both roles.
