The Canadian channel CBC reported citing informed sources that “the Canadian government has not seen any evidence so far to support Israel’s claim that employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) were colluding with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).”
The Canadian channel revealed that the government, led by Justin Trudeau, has suspended its funding to UNRWA without seeing evidence supporting Israel’s allegations of collusion between the agency and Hamas.
Government sources informed the channel that Israel has not yet shared evidence with Canada to substantiate its claim that 12 UNRWA employees participated in a Hamas attack on settlements in the Gaza Strip on October 7 last year.
Furthermore, Israel categorically refused to provide intelligence information supporting its claims to either UNRWA or the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services, the UN agency responsible for investigation.
“CBN” reported that the British Channel 4 had earlier obtained a copy of a file shared by Israel with the UK government, which also suspended its funding to UNRWA. The Channel 4 mentioned that the file reiterates old Israeli government complaints about UNRWA, alleging the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack but “does not provide any evidence to back Israel’s claims against the UN agency.”
Additionally, the British news channel Sky News reported that “Israeli intelligence documents make several claims without evidence,” adding that even if those claims were true, they do not directly prove UNRWA’s involvement in the Hamas attack.
The French radio station “France 24” gained access to the Israeli report, which it compared to the infamous “false dossier” about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that led the UK government to join the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
The Canadian channel also mentioned that the spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Lior Haiat, responded to a request from “France 24” to provide evidence of UNRWA’s involvement by saying, “I do not think we need to provide intelligence information. It would reveal sources in the process.”
This statement contradicts a previous tweet from Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, pledging that Israel “will provide all the evidence highlighting UNRWA’s ties to terrorism and its adverse effects on regional stability.”
As of January 30, 17 countries and the European Union decided to suspend funding to UNRWA based on Israeli allegations of 12 agency employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. The countries include the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Italy, the UK, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, New Zealand, Iceland, Romania, Estonia, Sweden, and the European Union, according to the United Nations.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli army has been conducting a devastating war with American support on the Gaza Strip, resulting in 27,708 martyrs and 67,147 injured, mostly children and women, according to Palestinian authorities, causing “massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” according to the United Nations.
