Published January 28,2024
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UN Secretary General António Guterres has promised authorized penalties following allegations that workers of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) had been concerned within the assaults on Israel on October 7.
“Any UN employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” he stated on Sunday, in keeping with a press release from the United Nations.
An investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services has been launched.
UNRWA has come below huge stress as a result of alleged involvement of 12 of its a number of thousand workers in unprecedented assault by Hamas on October 7.
Some 1,200 individuals had been killed in Israeli communities and at a music pageant close to the Gaza border. Over 240 had been taken hostage, a few of whom have since been launched.
Germany and eight different international locations introduced that they’d droop their funds to the help group within the Gaza Strip in the intervening time.
Guterres stated that 9 of the 12 accused had been recognized and their employment instantly terminated. One worker was declared lifeless and the id of the opposite two was presently being clarified.
“The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences,” he stated.
Guterres appealed to the states which have suspended their contributions to make sure the continuity of UNRWA’s work.
“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,” he stated.
On the bottom in Gaza, in the meantime, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported “intensive fighting” within the area round Khan Younis within the south of the Gaza Strip.
The troops had “found large quantities of weapons,” the IDF posted on X.
The combating has led to hundreds of civilians fleeing the town within the course of Rafah on strip’s southern border with Egypt.
An Israeli navy spokesman issued a renewed name in Arabic on individuals residing in sure elements of Khan Younis to go away for a delegated zone on the Mediterranean coast.
He detailed three four-hour “tactical” pauses in Israel’s operations on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, throughout which individuals in Rafah could be transfer round and safe provisions.
At least 165 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli assaults within the Gaza Strip inside 24 hours, in keeping with the Hamas-controlled well being authority.
This brings the variety of Palestinians killed within the coastal strip for the reason that begin of the warfare on October 7 to a minimum of 26,422.
The figures couldn’t be independently verified.
Talks to safe a ceasefire and the discharge of the remaining Israeli hostages are because of happen in Paris on Sunday, in keeping with the New York Times.
US negotiators have drawn up a draft primarily based on proposals from Israel and the Palestinian resistance motion Hamas, which shall be mentioned this Sunday in Paris, the newspaper reported in a single day.
Citing US authorities circles, the NYT stated the deal may contain Hamas releasing greater than 100 hostages in return for Israel ceasing its navy operations within the Gaza Strip for round two months.
Compared to the seven-day ceasefire in November, throughout which hostages and Palestinians imprisoned in Israel had been exchanged, hostilities would now be suspended for for much longer.
Source: www.anews.com.tr