A group of Israeli lawyers is attempting to lobby against funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), making the claim that the human rights organization is being used as a tool for Hamas, Israel Hayom reports on 4 January.
Speaking to MK Sharren Hashakal, an Israeli politician and head of the lobby group for UNRWA reform, Israel Hayom claims that the Palestinian relief agency has been transferring aid to Hamas instead of civilians, adding claims that many of the UNRWA members are in fact also Hamas personnel.
Israel Hayom reports that the lobby group will be conducting talks in the Knesset next week, where experts on Palestine, UNRWA members, and ambassadors from more than ten countries will be in attendance.
On 29 December, the UNRWA director, Thomas White, announced that the Israeli army had targeted one of the organization’s aid convoys as it was returning from north Gaza on a route designated by Tel Aviv itself.
As of late December, 142 UNRWA employees have been killed as a result of Israeli aggressions on Gaza, and 125 UNRWA installations have also been damaged.
