Shades of ‘Casablanca’ as UN Chief Feigns Shock at Allegations That Employees Aided Hamas in October 7 Massacres

The United Nations secretary-general is shocked — shocked — to find that his largest operation in Gaza is joined at the hip with the terrorist organization that rules the Strip. Also caught by surprise, the Biden administration suspended funding of this operation, the UN Relief and Works Agency, on Friday. Washington made its decision in light of “allegations that 12 Unrwa employees were involved in the October 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel,” the Department of State announced Friday. America “temporarily paused additional funding for Unrwa while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, was briefed by Unrwa’s commissioner, Philippe Lazzarini, “regarding extremely serious allegations which implicate several staff members in the terror attacks of 7 October in Israel,” the UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement. Mr. Guterres “is horrified by this news and has asked Mr. Lazzarini to investigate this matter swiftly and to ensure that any Unrwa employee shown to have participated or abetted what transpired on 7 October, or in any other criminal activity, be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution,” Mr. Dujarric said. He promised that “an urgent and comprehensive independent review of Unrwa will be conducted.”The universal surprise is itself surprising, as data tying Unrwa with Hamas in Gaza have been available for decades, and even more so since the October 7 attacks on Israel. As a former Israel Defense Force spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, told the Sun this week, Israeli troops in Gaza found ample evidence that the agency has been in cahoots with Hamas.Unrwa has “blood on its hands,” Mr. Conricus said, adding that the IDF has much more evidence of the UN organ’s complicity in Hamas atrocities than it had published so far, and that it “intends to air it out in coming days.” On Friday, Israel indeed did so, sending Unrwa proof that at least 12 of its employees have actively participated in the October 7 massacres of Israelis.Unrwa takes all allegations “very seriously,” Mr. Dujarric told the Sun this week, even after he had initially belittled the veracity of UN Watch, which has published a trove of Unrwa employees’ statements celebrating October 7.In some cases the UN was indeed pushed to act against its own. In 2019 the agency’s commissioner at the time, Pierre Krahenbuhl of Switzerland, was forced to resign following evidence that he put his mistress on Unrwa’s payroll, even though she was hardly qualified.Yet, that scandal hardly hurt the career of Mr. Krahenbuhl in the revolving door of well-paying jobs in international organizations. In December he was appointed to be the next director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Department of State’s decision to “temporarily” suspend Unrwa funding could similarly be reversed once time passes and the scandals surrounding the agency fade. Under pressure from a former UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, America earlier ended all Unrwa payments. Mr. Biden resumed finding early on in his presidency.Since then, America paid nearly $1 billion to maintain Unrwa’s status as the main UN organ dealing with Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. Earlier this week the state department spokesman said that Washington sees a major role for Unrwa in post-war Gaza. After Captain Renault in “Casablanca” expressed his “shock” about gambling taking place at Rick’s cafe, he thanked an employee who handed him his winnings. Similarly, a fundraising group, Unrwa-USA, sent an email Friday inviting its supporters to Brooklyn on March 2 for a 5K run, all proceeds of which go to the UN agency.

Shades of ‘Casablanca’ as UN Chief Feigns Shock at Allegations That Employees Aided Hamas in October 7 Massacres

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