One is accused of kidnapping a lady. Another is claimed to have handed out ammunition. A 3rd was described as collaborating within the bloodbath at a kibbutz the place 97 folks died. And all have been mentioned to be workers of the United Nations help company that faculties, shelters and feeds a whole lot of 1000’s of Palestinians within the Gaza Strip.

The accusations are contained in a file supplied to the United States authorities that particulars Israel’s claims in opposition to a dozen workers of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency who, it says, performed a task within the Hamas assaults in opposition to Israel on Oct. 7 or of their aftermath.

The U.N. mentioned on Friday that it had fired a number of workers after being briefed on the allegations. But little was recognized in regards to the accusations till the file was reviewed on Sunday by The New York Times.

The accusations are what prompted eight nations, together with the United States, to droop some help fee to UNRWA, because the company is understood, at the same time as battle plunges Palestinians in Gaza into determined straits. More than 26,000 folks have been killed there and practically two million displaced, in accordance with Gazan and U.N. officers.

The UNRWA staff have been accused of serving to Hamas stage the assault that set off the battle in Gaza, or of aiding it within the days after. Some 1,200 folks in Israel have been killed that day, Israeli officers say, and about 240 have been kidnapped and brought to Gaza.

On Sunday, the United Nations secretary common, António Guterres, described himself as “horrified by these accusations” and famous that 9 of the 12 accused workers had been fired. But Mr. Guterres implored these nations that had suspended their help funds to rethink. UNRWA is likely one of the largest employers in Gaza, with 13,000 folks, largely Palestinians, on employees.

Asked about Israel’s allegations on Sunday, UNRWA mentioned that two of the 12 workers have been useless however that it couldn’t present extra data whereas the U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services was nonetheless investigating.

Two Western officers confirmed on the situation of anonymity that that they had been briefed on the contents of the file in latest days, however mentioned that they had not been capable of confirm the small print. Although the United States has but to corroborate the Israeli claims itself, American officers say they discovered them credible sufficient to warrant suspending help.

The Times verified the id of one of many 12 workers, a storeroom supervisor, whose social media profile lists him as an UNRWA worker and exhibits him carrying U.N.-branded garments.

The Israeli file, offered to U.S. officers on Friday, lists the names and jobs of the UNRWA workers and the allegations in opposition to them.

The file mentioned that Israeli intelligence officers had established the actions of six of the lads inside Israel on Oct. 7 primarily based on their telephones; others had been monitored whereas making cellphone calls inside Gaza throughout which, the Israelis say, they mentioned their involvement within the Hamas assault.

Three others bought textual content messages ordering them to report back to muster factors on Oct. 7, and one was informed to deliver rocket-propelled grenades saved at his house, in accordance with the file.

The Israelis described 10 of the workers as members of Hamas, the militant group that managed Gaza on the time of the Oct. 7 assault. Another was mentioned to be affiliated with one other militant group, Islamic Jihad.

Yet seven of the accused have been additionally mentioned to be lecturers at UNRWA faculties, instructing college students in topics like math and Arabic. Two others labored on the faculties in different capacities. The remaining three have been described as a clerk, a social employee and the storeroom supervisor.

The most detailed accusations within the file involved a college counselor from Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, who’s accused of working together with his son to abduct a lady from Israel.

A social employee from Nuseirat, in central Gaza, is accused of serving to to deliver the physique of a useless Israeli soldier to Gaza, in addition to distributing ammunition and coordinating autos on the day of the assault.

The Israeli accusations come in opposition to the backdrop of decades-long frictions with UNRWA. Since 1949, the company has cared for the households of Palestinians who fled or have been compelled from their properties throughout the wars surrounding the creation of the state of Israel.

The group gives important help to greater than 5 million Palestinian refugees scattered throughout the Middle East, whose future and standing have by no means been resolved regardless of years of negotiations.

But to its critics, together with many Israelis, the company is an impediment to resolving the battle. Its very existence, they are saying, prevents Palestinian refugees from integrating into new communities and stokes their goals of in the future returning to what’s now Israel — a aim that Israel says it’s going to by no means enable. And in Gaza, Israel argues, UNRWA has fallen underneath the affect of Hamas, a declare the company rejects.

This shouldn’t be the primary time the United States has reduce off cash to the U.N. company. The Trump administration suspended help as half its efforts to stress the Palestinian management to cease demanding that refugees be allowed to return to Israel.

But the present risk to its funding is taken into account to be the gravest in its historical past as a result of it comes at a time of disaster for Gaza.

Amid warnings of famine, the collapse of the well being system and the large displacement of the Palestinian inhabitants, UNRWA’s work is taken into account extra essential than ever. It helps coordinate the distribution of the provides of help — nevertheless meager — that arrive every day in southern Gaza, and its faculties present shelter to greater than one million Gazans, in accordance with the company’s statistics.

The funding suspensions could also be felt rapidly. Unlike different U.N. businesses, UNRWA has no strategic monetary reserve. On Sunday, Mr. Guterres mentioned providers may have to be lowered starting in February.

A day earlier, the company’s commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, warned of impending disaster.

“It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region,” he mentioned.

“The lives of people in Gaza depend on this support, and so does regional stability,” Mr. Lazzarini mentioned.

The State Department on Friday acknowledged the essential humanitarian position performed by UNRWA however mentioned it was suspending its funding whereas it assessed each the allegations and the company’s response to them.

Israeli officers themselves have been involved on Sunday about whether or not their accusations may in the long run make their very own place tougher, in accordance with three officers concerned within the dialogue. A collapse within the supply of providers to Gaza may drive Israel to shoulder a larger position in operating help distribution — a task it doesn’t need.

Reports in regards to the accusations in opposition to the help staff got here on the identical day that the International Court of Justice issued an interim ruling on accusations of genocide which have been leveled in opposition to Israel by South Africa. The court ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide by its forces in Gaza and to permit extra help into the territory.

Reporting was contributed by Johnatan Reiss, Julian E. Barnes, Gabby Sobelman and Myra Noveck.