International aid agencies have said they are “deeply concerned and outraged” at the “reckless” decision by major donors to cut funding to a UN Palestinian aid agency after Israel accused some of its workers of taking part in Hamas’ 7 October attack.

“We are shocked by the reckless decision to cut a lifeline for an entire population by some of the very countries that had called for aid in Gaza to be stepped up and for humanitarians to be protected while doing their job,” the coalition of 21 agencies, including Oxfam, Save the Children and ActionAid, said in a statement on Monday.

More than 10 western countries including the US, UK and Germany said they would suspend funding to UNRWA, which provides aid to more than 5.6 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, after the agency said it had launched a probe into 12 staff members who allegedly took part in abductions and killings on 7 October.

The agency has sacked nine of those accused. Two others are missing and one is dead. The UN in New York has also launched a high-level investigation into the alleged acts, which its secretary general, António Guterres, described as “abhorrent”.

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  • @breakfastmtn@lemmy.caOP
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    210 months ago

    It’s not association. They’re claiming about 10% of their staff are actually members of Hamas:

    The Israeli military provided the United States with a dossier alleging that roughly 10 percent of the agency’s 13,000 employees in Gaza are Hamas members. That assessment is derived from cross-referencing an UNRWA staff list with a directory of Hamas members that soldiers found on a computer during a recent operation inside Gaza, according to the military officials.

    Also, the 40 decapitated babies claim is a long-debunked myth and a claim never made by either the Israeli government or the IDF. It began and spread on social media.

    The unsupported claim about dozens of child beheadings gained traction after live news reports from Nicole Zedeck, a correspondent for Israel-based i24NEWS, who was reporting from the scene of an attack near the Israel-Gaza border. In videos the news service posted to X on Oct. 10, Zedeck said Israeli soldiers told her what they witnessed.

    In one clip, she said “about 40 babies at least,” who were dead, according to a commander, “were taken out on gurneys.” In another clip, she said babies had “their heads cut off, they said” – but she never mentioned a number.

    The claim about “40 babies beheaded” appears to be a combination of those two separate details that Zedeck relayed during the live broadcasts. She did not make that claim herself, as the social media video wrongly asserts.

    In fact, CNN reported on Oct. 12 that an unnamed Israeli official told the news outlet that the Israeli government had not confirmed claims, including from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson, that babies were beheaded.

    That babies were found beheaded was later confirmed by pathologists:

    An international group of forensic pathologists also have confirmed babies were found decapitated, though it’s unclear if that happened before or after death.

      • @breakfastmtn@lemmy.caOP
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        210 months ago

        You’re asking if the hospital calendar had names or the days of the week? It’s not disputed by anyone that it had days of the week. Israel formally issued a correction shortly after releasing it.

            • NoIWontPickaName
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              210 months ago

              I don’t believe that was on accident.

              Everyone knows retractions never get as much attention.

              You say one thing knowing it will take off and then quietly announce your retraction after your lies take off.

              Basic counterintelligence move