SAFA -  New reports from the Gaza Strip are raising grave concern over a pattern of systematic targeting of former UNRWA employees by Israeli occupation forces following their dismissal from employment on the basis of unsubstantiated Israeli security allegations.

Field reports have documented several instances of former employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) being killed in direct Israeli attacks just weeks after being notified of their dismissal.

Without conducting independent investigations or giving workers a chance to defend themselves, the terminations are said to have been based on security lists and accusations supplied by Israeli occupation forces.

Although UNRWA has maintained that the dismissals were precautionary administrative measures related to staff safety rather than findings of guilt, critics argue that the decisions effectively stripped employees of their institutional protection and left them vulnerable during the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The latest incidents add to the growing toll among UNRWA personnel since the beginning of the Israeli genocidal war. Hundreds of the agency’s teachers, engineers, relief workers, and administrative staff have been among the Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks while carrying out humanitarian duties or sheltering with their families.

Among the former UNRWA employees recently targeted were teacher Ismail Mutlaq, engineer Abdullah Al-Tatari, and Mohammad Abdel Nasser Al-Khatib, whose killing was recently announced by the Arab Employees Union within UNRWA.

According to the union, Al-Khatib was killed in a direct Israeli strike shortly after his employment was terminated based on false and evidence-free allegations supplied by Israeli authorities.

Union Holds Israel Responsible

In a statement, the Arab Employees Union held Israel fully responsible for Al-Khatib’s killing, stressing that targeting UNRWA personnel, whether actively employed or dismissed, constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

The union urged UNRWA’s administration to stop yielding to political pressure and to fulfill its legal and moral obligations by protecting its employees, safeguarding their rights and preventing administrative decisions from being used to legitimize crimes committed on the ground.

Rights Group Warns of Systematic Pattern

Ramy Abdu, chairman of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said the killings of dismissed UNRWA employees reflect a broader pattern of attacks against humanitarian workers throughout Gaza.

Speaking to Safa news agency, Abdu said the organization has repeatedly documented the systematic targeting of humanitarian personnel since the beginning of the Israeli genocide.

“UNRWA itself has acknowledged that hundreds of its employees have been killed,” Abdu said, describing the figure as unprecedented in the history of United Nations humanitarian operations worldwide, alongside repeated attacks on the agency’s facilities.

He highlighted that the attacks come as Israel continues a broader campaign against UNRWA, an agency central to the Palestinian refugee issue, with the objective of dismantling its role entirely.

Abdu also noted that the dismissals affecting dozens of employees were primarily based on Israeli allegations that lacked independently verifiable evidence, something, he said, the UN agency itself effectively acknowledged by clarifying that dismissal decisions did not confirm the validity of the accusations but were merely precautionary measures.

Abdu said the sequence of events, beginning with unverified Israeli accusations, followed by administrative dismissal and later Israeli targeting, raises serious concerns about whether the dismissal process is being used as a precursor to extrajudicial killings.

From a legal perspective, he said UNRWA cannot be held responsible for Israel’s military actions because it is neither the attacking party nor capable of providing physical protection to its personnel. However, he questioned the practical consequences of rapidly dismissing employees based on allegations that had not undergone transparent and independent review.

He said, "To dismiss employees on unproven allegations is the same as making them suspects in the public sphere but without the legal protections. The Israeli occupation forces then use this to justify targeting the employees, even though the authorities themselves planted the allegations.”

Abdu stressed that Israeli attacks have not been limited to dismissed employees, noting that more than 400 UNRWA staff members have been among the Palestinians killed during Israel’s large-scale assault on Gaza.

He renewed calls for the establishment of a high-level independent international panel to investigate the killings of UNRWA personnel, describing it as a demand previously raised within the United Nations itself.

While the UN is not responsible for the killings, Abdu says this is evidence of a growing recognition among senior UN officials of the scale of the crisis.

He emphasized that the primary legal responsibility rests with Israel as the occupying power, which is obligated under international humanitarian law to protect humanitarian workers.

Abdu concluded that any allegations against UNRWA employees should be examined through independent international investigative mechanisms rather than immediately translated into administrative dismissal followed by military targeting. 

He warned that allowing unsubstantiated accusations to evolve into arbitrary dismissals and subsequent killings risks institutionalizing impunity and enabling unlawful killings under the cover of administrative procedures.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor called for an urgent independent international investigative mechanism into every attack against humanitarian workers and urged UN member states to pressure Israel to ensure effective protection for humanitarian personnel operating in Gaza.