Israel Summons UN Ambassador for ‘Immediate Consultations’

Israel’s ambassador to the UN has been recalled, according to Foreign Minister Israel Katz. He announced this on an online service, noting that Israel’s relations with the UN have been strained since the beginning of the Gaza war.

UN Secretary General, António Guterres, had requested the resignation of Ambassador Erdan at the end of October. The request was prompted by a speech from Guterres, which condemned the Hamas attack on Israel but also suggested that the actions of the radical Islamic Palestinian organization were not unprovoked.

UNRWA, the UN Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees, Accused

Ambassador Erdan supported Israel’s allegations of terrorism against UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday. He showed a video allegedly depicting a UNRWA worker in Israel on October 7th, involved in a suspicious activity. According to Erdan, hundreds out of 13,000 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip are “active terrorists”, with twelve percent being members of Hamas or the “Islamic Jihad in Palestine” group.

450 Hamas Fighters Employed by UNRWA?

Military spokesperson Daniel Hagari accused UNRWA of systematically employing over 450 fighters from Hamas and other extremist groups. This information, along with other intelligence, has been shared with international partners, including the United Nations. Several Western nations, including the largest donors, the United States and Germany, have suspended their payments to UNRWA in light of these allegations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has previously deemed these allegations credible and promised a thorough investigation.

In January, Israel authorities provided the UN with twelve names and phone geodata from October 7th, which, upon investigation, supported the suspicions. The Hamas terrorist attack in Israel resulted in around 1,200 deaths.

UNRWA has been catering to the needs of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East for several decades, providing education and health facilities among other services. With over 30,000 employees, of whom approximately 13,000 are based in the Gaza Strip, UNRWA is currently the only option for providing humanitarian aid to the over two million civilians suffering from the aftermath of the Gaza war.