UN Gaza Funding Should Be Reconsidered Amid Hamas Terrorist Allegations, Dutton Says

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2024. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)

Australian Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called on the Albanese government to reconsider funding to the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA).

This comes after the United Nations revealed nine employees were fired after revelations they “may have been involved” in the Hamas terror attack on Israel.

Dutton described this as a “significant revelation” that would not come as a surprise to many people.

“It should cause the Albanese government to reconsider their involvement, their engagement, their funding of UNWRA. It’s completely and utterly unacceptable that a U.N. agency would have employees involved in, or alleged to have been involved in, the Oct. 7 tragedy,” Dutton told Sky News.

He explained that taxpayer dollars are being provided to UNRWA, and he wants to see more details to ensure that this funding reaches those who need it.

“If that turns out not to be the case, then I think the government really has a lot to answer to here,” Dutton said.

The Coalition has previously called for the government cease funding the organisation.

“I mean, we’re ... 10 months down the track, and if these people are still an employee, we were given assurances upfront that nobody was involved in the Oct. 7 atrocities, and this is a complete breach of faith. I think people are rightly angry because we’re talking about taxpayers dollars here,” Dutton added.

Staff Will Be Fired: UN

On Aug. 5, the U.N. confirmed nine staff would be fired after the U.N. Office of Oversight Services (OIOS) conducted an investigation into the allegations made by Israel.

The OIOS said it was not able to authenticate information used by Israel to support the allegations independently.

U.N. Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq spoke about the issue in New York after investigators made findings related to 19 UNRWA staff alleged to have been involved in the attacks.

“In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff members’ involvement,” he said.

For 10 cases, “appropriate measures” will be taken in due course in line with UNRWA regulations and rules.

However, with respect to the remaining nine cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS indicated that the UNRWA staff members “may have been involved” in the Oct. 7 attacks.

“I have decided that in the case of these remaining nine staff members, they cannot work for UNRWA. All contracts of these staff members will be terminated in the interest of the Agency,” Haq added.

He said he did not have specific information on the extent of these staff members’ alleged involvement in the attacks.

The investigation involved trips to Israel for talks with officials and a review of information held in Israel.

Investigators also travelled to Jordan and its capital, Amman, to look at intelligence held by the UNRWA on their staff and operations.

Meanwhile, Assistant Trade Minister Tim Ayres said the government will continue to monitor the situation closely in a press conference on Aug. 6.

“UNRWA is the only body that is capable of delivering food and other things that UNRWA does. It is a catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, so the decision making in the government has been very deliberate and focused on achieving the right outcome,” he said.

UNRWA Funding

Hamas escalated conflict in the Middle East when it launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.

Australia and multiple other nations, including the United States, paused funding for the UNRWA in February after the allegations emerged about possible involvement in this attack.

However, in March, the government advised that it had reinstated funding to the UNRWA in Gaza following similar moves in Canada and Sweden.

However, the Opposition opposed this decision, with Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham pointing out that the government had not done the work to ensure stronger accountability for aid use.

“No Australian taxpayer dollars should go to support any organisation whose staff or operations may support, incite, or undertake terrorist actions the likes of which we saw on Oct. 7,” Shadow Foreign Affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said at the time.

“So why has the Albanese Labor government made this decision, directly contradicting the approach of the United States who await the outcomes of the investigation into UNRWA and in the interim are pursuing alternate means of delivering more humanitarian assistance?”