UN chief names independent panel to assess UNRWA agency in Gaza

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres announced Monday the creation of an independent panel to assess UNRWA, its embattled agency tasked with helping Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA is under fire over accusations by Israel that 12 staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

More than a dozen countries, including the United States, Germany, Britain and Sweden, have suspended funding to the agency.

The new independent panel will be led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, who will work with three European research organizations, the U.N. said in a statement.

The goal of the probe is to "assess whether the agency is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made."

The panel is due to submit an interim report to Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, in late March, and then a final one in late April, with, if necessary, recommendations for "improvement and strengthening" of the agency's mechanisms.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz congratulated the U.N. for forming this panel.

"We will submit all evidence highlighting @UNRWA's ties to terrorism and its harmful effects on regional stability," Katz wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"It is imperative that this committee brings the truth to light," he added.

However, this new panel is not charged with probing the specific allegations Israel has made against the UNRWA employees it says were involved in the Hamas attack.

Rather, this is being done in an internal probe that the United Nations itself launched last month after the accusations were first made against them.

"We hope that donors have taken clear notice of the swift action...