United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Monday that he has appointed an independent Review Group to assess whether the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) “is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made.”
Israel congratulated Guterres on the move and promised to provide the evidence needed to force UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini to resign.
Congratulations to the @UN on forming the investigative committee. We will submit all evidence highlighting @UNRWA's ties to terrorism and its harmful effects on regional stability. It is imperative that this committee brings the truth to light, necessitating the immediate…
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) February 5, 2024
Guterres said in his statement that he appointed the review panel “in consultation with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini” — something akin to asking one’s cat to help decide where to store the cream.
The review panel is to be led by Catherine Colonna, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, who Guterres said will work with three research organizations: the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
None of the three above Scandinavian nations joined some 18 other countries in suspending funding to UNRWA in response to allegations that at least 12 of its staff actively participated in the invasion of Israel, the torture, mutilation, rape, burning, beheading and slaughter of more than 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and the abduction into Gaza of 253 hostages on October 7th.
The Review Group is slated to begin its work on 14 February 2024 and is expected to submit an interim report to the Secretary-General in late March 2024, with a final report expected to be completed by late April 2024. The final report will be made public, Guterres said.
“This review is in response to a request made by UNRWA Commissioner-General Lazzarini earlier this year,” the Secretary-General also noted.
The Review Group’s assigned tasks are:
a. To identify the mechanisms and procedures that UNRWA currently has in place to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations or information indicating that the principle may have been breached;
b. To ascertain how those mechanisms and procedures have, or have not, been implemented in practice and whether every practicable effort has been made to apply them to their full potential, taking into account the particular operational, political and security environment in which the agency works;
c. To assess the adequacy of those mechanisms and procedures and whether they are fit for purpose, including in relation to the management of risks and taking into account the particular operational, political and security context in which the agency works; and
d. To make recommendations for the improvement and strengthening, if necessary, of the mechanisms and procedures that are currently in place or for the creation of new and alternative mechanisms and procedures that would be better fit for purpose, taking into account the particular operational, political and security context in which the Agency works;
The Secretary-General said the accusations come at a time when UNRWA, the largest UN organization in the region, is “working under extremely challenging conditions to deliver life-saving assistance to the two million people in the Gaza Strip who depend on it for their survival amidst one of the largest and most complex humanitarian crises in the world.”
The independent external review will take place in parallel with an investigation currently underway by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) into the allegations that 12 UNRWA personnel were involved in the October 7 attacks.
“The cooperation of the Israeli authorities, who made these allegations, will be critical to the success of the investigation,” Guterres added. It’s not yet clear what kind of cooperation the UN Secretary-General has in mind.
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted a brief statement to the X social media platform on Monday night, promising to submit Israel’s evidence substantiating the allegations.
“Congratulations to the UN on forming the investigative committee,” Katz wrote. “We will submit all evidence highlighting UNRWA’s ties to terrorism and its harmful effects on regional stability. It is imperative that this committee brings the truth to light, necessitating the immediate resignation of the UNRWA chairman.”
