Free Republic

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees apologized Tuesday for telling Israel’s Channel 12 in an interview Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip were “precise” and “sophisticated.” Gaza director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Matthias Schmale’s remarks sparked outrage from the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group, which accused him of being a “spokesperson for the occupation army” who was exonerating Israel over the deaths of 254 Palestinians. After acknowledging the IDF’s strikes were “very precise,” Schmale told Channel 12: “I also have the impression that there is a huge sophistication in the way the...

Workers have seized partial control of the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian Arab refugees and their descendants in Hamas-run Gaza, its head said Wednesday, accusing their union of "mutiny" over job cuts. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced last month more than 250 staff in Gaza and Judea and Samaria would lose their jobs, after a $300 million cut in annual funding from the United States. The redundancies have prompted daily protests by the agency's labour union in the enclave, which UNRWA's Gaza head said have led to security concerns. "They have taken over the...