Bank Leumi, a major Israeli bank, notified the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees that their account had been blocked, Globes reported Sunday.
The bank, the largest in Israel, claimed it had identified suspicious activity in the international agency’s account and expressed concern that money transfers that went through the account were untraceable, the Israeli news outlet noted. The bank also reportedly said it failed to receive a satisfactory explanation from UNRWA representatives and this raised concern that the money was being funneled to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. (RELATED: ‘You’re Full Of Sh*t!’: Protester Berates Brian Mast After He Calls UN ‘Moronic’ For Creating UNRWA)
בנק לאומי חסם את החשבון של אונר”א בשל חשש לתמיכה בטרור https://t.co/QuPiIZ7equ pic.twitter.com/Xm3eXzIK57
— Globes גלובס (@globesnews) February 4, 2024
The incident follows a major scandal in UNRWA over allegations that several of their employees in the Gaza Strip participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Countries such as Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and Austria announced they were temporarily cutting their funding of the organization following the eruption of this affair pending an investigation into the claims. American intelligence added fuel to the fire by leaking an assessment to The Wall Street Journal that estimated that around 10 percent of UNRWA had deep personal ties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, two terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
“UNRWA, long funded by your tax dollars, has been governing Gaza at the behest of Hamas so that Hamas, which sees governing as a distraction, could dedicate itself to murdering Jews in Israel. That the international community would cut a deal with the devil (i.e. Hamas) is so scandalous and shocking in its stupidity that it leaves one speechless,” One U.S. lawmaker tweeted.
Following the scandal, the United Nations (UN) appointed a review board “to respond to allegations of serious breaches” of UNRWA’s neutrality, a statement by the UN’s Secretary General read in part.
The UN just created an “independent Review Group” of 3 institutes to examine if UNRWA is doing all it can to “ensure neutrality.”
Two support accusing Israel of genocide. The third hosts 9/11 denier Richard Falk who once accused Israel of carrying out a “Palestinian holocaust.” https://t.co/MVL99xbzVu
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) February 5, 2024
However, some are not convinced of the organization’s competency to mount an independent investigation and have called the review board biased.