Call Israel's Evidence Credible But US Foreign Minister Blinken Also Admits The Vital Role Of UNRWA In Gaza

JAKARTA - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the evidence Israel provided on the alleged connection of a dozen UN agency staff to Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in a Hamas militant group attack last October was highly credible.

"We ourselves do not yet have the ability to investigate (the accusation). But (the evidence) they are very, very credible," Foreign Minister Blinken said during a press conference.

However, Foreign Minister Blinken stressed that UNRWA played a "very necessary" role in providing assistance to civilians in Gaza, he said.

"No other party can play a role like the one played by UNRWA, of course not in the near future," he said.

This highlights the "necessary" for UNRWA to immediately conduct an investigation and address the allegations "completely possible," Blinken said.

Israel last weekend revealed allegations alleging the involvement of 12 UNRWA staff in the Hamas militant group attack on their southern region on October 7. That led a number of major donor countries to decide to temporarily suspend their disbursement of funds.

Citing Reuters, the six-page intelligence document alleges that 190 UNRWA staff are suspected of being linked to the Hamas militant group or Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

"From intelligence information, documents and identity cards confiscated during the fighting, it is now possible to mark around 190 people related to Hamas and PIJ who served as UNRWA employees," said the Hebrew document.

The United Nations has not officially received a copy of the document, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

On the other hand, Palestine accused Israel of falsifying information to tarnish UNRWA, which said it had fired several staff and was investigating the allegations. UNRWA itself is estimated to have around 13,000 staff in Gaza.

It is known that the United Nations Agency for Assistance and Work (UNRWA) was formed for war refugees in 1948 when Israel was founded in an area that was once British-controlled Palestinian territory.

Israel has long accused UNRWA of perpetuating the conflict by preventing re-residential refugees, and has in the past said that the agency's staff participated in the armed attack.