Israel did not express concerns about UNRWA staff before attack: report
Global News
Israel said UNRWA employees took part in the Hamas attack. A UN panel has stated "Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of this.”
An independent review conducted for the United Nations into the neutrality of its agency helping Palestinian refugees found that Israel never expressed concern about anyone on the staff lists it has received annually since 2011.
The review was carried out after Israel alleged that a dozen employees of the agency known as UNRWA had participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
In a wide-ranging 48-page report released Monday, the independent panel said UNRWA has “robust” procedures to uphold the U.N. principle of neutrality, but it cited serious gaps in implementation, including staff publicly expressing political views, textbooks used in schools the agency runs with “problematic content” and staff unions disrupting operations.
From 2017 to 2022, the report said the annual number of allegations of neutrality being breached at UNRWA ranged from seven to 55. But between January 2022 and February 2024, U.N. investigators received 151 allegations, most related to social media posts “made public by external sources,” it said.
In a key section on the neutrality of staff, the panel, which was led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, said UNRWA shares lists of staff with host countries for its 32,000 staff, including about 13,000 in Gaza.
But it said Israeli officials never expressed concern and informed panel members it did not consider the list “a screening or vetting process” but rather a procedure to register diplomats.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry informed the panel that until March 2024 the staff lists did not include Palestinian identification numbers, the report said.
Apparently based on those numbers, “Israel made public claims that a significant number of UNRWA employees are members of terrorist organizations,” the panel said. “However, Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of this.”
U.S. benchmark crude fell US$1.24 to US$94.53 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose to US$104.17 per barrel. That's down from more than US$106 on Monday.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukraine's allies not to forget about his country, and suggested the U.S. and others should make use of Ukraine's anti-drone technology during the war.
Trump’s visit to China is seen as an opportunity to build on a fragile trade truce, but it has become tangled in his effort to find an endgame to the war in Iran.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz starting to move is "a sign of how little Iran has left."
The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, were “eliminated last night," Israel said.
Explosions were heard in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, where Nigeria’s homegrown jihadi Boko Haram extremists have waged an insurgency for more than a decade.
Iran is reportedly allowing some ships to travel through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping chokepoint to access the resource-rich Persian Gulf.
The institution cancelled all in-person exams on Monday, and the students' union called off events and shut down venues in response to the outbreak.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines announced a 'complete disconnection' of the country’s fuel-powered electrical system, plunging nearly 11 million people into darkness.
Abbas Omidi is one of 32 'senior officials' of Iran’s regime located in Canada.
About a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage of water between Iran and Oman.
Canada finished eighth in the gold-medal standings with just three. As for total medals, Canada placed sixth, with four silver and eight bronze.
Canada produced on average 5.3 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2025, according to the Canada Energy Regulator, making the upcoming production jump a 2.6 per cent increase.