GENEVA, Feb 13, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Israel warned Tuesday the mandate of an investigation into allegations that UN staff participated in Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attacks was too vague, but said it would cooperate.

Earlier this month, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres announced the creation of an independent panel to assess UNRWA, the UN agency tasked with helping Palestinian refugees.

The embattled agency had come under fire over accusations by Israel that 12 of its staff members were involved in the deadliest-ever attack inside Israel on October 7 last year.

"We plan to cooperate with the investigation," Israeli ambassador Meirav Shahar told reporters in Geneva.

But she warned that "the mandate as it stands right now is too wide".
"This is not a mandate that helps to check to ensure how you don't deploy terrorists in the future, how you don't have... hundreds of tunnels under UNRWA schools, under their main headquarters."

"The mandate needs to be more concise," she said, calling for the probe to also include experts who can look into UNRWA's counter-terrorism and vetting procedures.

The new independent panel, which will be led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, is due to begin its two-month investigation on Wednesday.

Israel called at the weekend for UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini to step down following claims that a Hamas tunnel had been discovered under its evacuated Gaza City headquarters.

Lazzarini, who briefed member state representatives in Geneva on the situation Tuesday, has stressed that his agency had not operated from the compound since October 12, and has said he has no intention to resign.

On Tuesday he called for an independent investigation into both the Hamas tunnels and strikes on more than 150 of the UN agency's installations in Gaza since the war erupted more than four months ago.

He also warned that dismantling UNRWA, as Israel has called for, would be a "disaster" at a time of crisis in the Palestinian territory.

- UNRWA under pressure -

Hamas's unprecedented attacks in Israel on October 7 resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also took about 250 people hostage, around 130 of whom are still in Gaza, according to Israeli figures. Israel says 29 of the remaining captives are presumed dead.

Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza that the Hamas-run territory's health ministry says has killed at least 28,473 people, mostly women and children.

In an address during Lazzarini's closed-door briefing, shared with AFP, Shahar reiterated that Israel's concerns regarding UNRWA were nothing new, alleging that the agency "has employed terrorists for years".

The allegations against 12 UNRWA staff members, she said, were "just the tip of the iceberg".

"UNRWA is not fit for its purpose... It has become a political tool for Hamas," she charged.