The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, announced this Monday andl appointment of an independent group to evaluate the work of the Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), after Israel accused some of its members of participating in Hamas attacks on October 7.

The group, which will be led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, will have to deliver a preliminary report to Guterres in March 2024, plus a final one in April. This latest report will be made public. Specifically, researchers will need to identify the mechanisms of UNRWA to “ensure neutrality and respond to allegations or information indicating that this principle has been violated,” the UN detailed in a statement.

They must also do recommendations to improve and strengthen these mechanisms, if necessary, or even establish new procedures. Guterres made clear that Israel’s accusations come at a point where UNRWA workers cope with extremely harsh conditionswhile trying to offer aid to two million people trapped in the Gaza Strip, subjected to constant bombing after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

A key evaluation

Israel’s accusations motivated 18 countries -among them the US, Japan, Germany and France- to announce the suspension of their contributions to the agency, which has assured that it will run out of funds before the end of the month.

The evaluation announced this Monday by the Secretary General will take place in parallel to the investigation by the UN Department of Internal Affairs into the 12 UNRWA members accused of involvement in October 7 attackswhich Guterres said could yield results within two to three weeks.

“The cooperation of the Israeli authorities, who made these allegations, will be key to the success of the research“Guterres warned in his statement. Colonna will have the support of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute of Norway and the Danish Institute for Human Rights to develop its evaluation.