It does damage UNRWA’s credibility in the eyes of the donors.
Also it might be naive to think that it’s only 12 people who took part in the attacks (allegedly). These were the people who were caught and we honestly don’t know if there were any more who managed to get away with it.
I’d like to believe that the other 12988 people do not in anyway have blood on their hands. But this is the same UNRWA which has claimed that there were stringent background checks on prospective employees.
Three US service members killed in drone attack on US forces in north-east Jordan, says Joe Biden
Three US service members have been killed during an unmanned aerial drone attack on US forces in north-east Jordan near the Syria border on Saturday night.
Now what does the US response to that look like ? 
Terrifying.
Some confusion. Some reports say the attack was in Jordan while some say it was in Syria.
It seems many of the names appear to come from interrogations…will be interesting to see what other evidence comes to light (something a bit more trustworthy). My guess is there is more given the 12 staff have been fired…but could be just damage control.
The thing is people are not static they change over time, it’s been said before, for every child killed there will be two people radicalised to fight angainst Israel. UNWRA employees are not immune to this. They are people who will have seen suffering, injustice and loss of life. Events that will have directly impacted them.
Dare say vast majority of people who committed the atrocity are damaged people, with scares from their past.
Let’s say someone radicalised does infiltrate UNWRA for exploitation from the start. Not sure there is much that can realistically be done. All employee names are given to governments. If their intelligence agencies don’t pick it up. What hope does UNWRA have ? It’s not like you’re going to put on your CV, team lead at Hamas camp or give Ismail Haniyeh as a referee.
I do agree that it’s impossible to keep monitoring the mindsets of the people and how they keep changing.
It’s a complicated situation w.r.t how UNRWA employs people going forward. It’s not only the case of employing people who participated in the attack. Any UNRWA reports on the situation on the ground is going to be questioned on the veracity now.
An ideal world would have had people from a mix of different background being employed to reduce the chances of this from happening.
What kind of mixture of backgrounds is there in Gaza? Everyone is living in a constant emergency even before the latest horrors, everyone is living hand to mouth, coping with shortages, lack of infrastructure, insecurity and danger.
Everybody’s background is chaos.
I meant people from outside Gaza / Palestine / Israel.
Other countries etc. But it isn’t an ideal world.
Anyway , we wouldn’t have these conflicts in an ideal world either.
Only recently, I read a news that UN officials in Iraq are demanding bribes to release the funds. Those officials are Iraqi nationals and UN agencies can’t be accused of corruption for that.
UN agencies work in places with social, political, or security turmoil. It’s those turmoil that require UN agencies and other NGOs to work there. Aside from the top-brass, all the people employed by these agencies are recruited locally. People who are shaped by the turmoil the agencies are addressing. So, corruptions or other crimes by the grassroot employees are almost inevitable. Just ask US-UK about Afghanistan.
Withholding humanitarian aids to a region with looming famine on any pretext is just despicable.
It’s probably one of the reasons why I feel UN or any other aid agencies should have better structure when it comes to boots on grounds.
It’s not the first time an organisation’s name is misused by vested interests and won’t be the last time.
The crimes are inevitable, but UN agencies can insulate themselves better by having better oversight.
If the word of UNRWA is not taken at face value anymore , it’s the Palestinians who will lose out. Countries won’t fund when elements within UNRWA are compromised. How can they trust the organisation’s words anymore ?
Imagine how Israel will play the following narrative when it’s being conveyed to the west.
The money that you sent to UNRWA helped some extremists gain employment. Some of whom kidnapped and killed people of all nationalities. It’s a huge trump card that has been given to Israelis.
Maybe the UN can reduce the number of employees on their payroll by outsourcing the work to entities / companies within Palestine.
Should atleast prevent UN agencies getting caught in these matters. Atleast they can say , they didn’t directly employ people accused of these crimes.
13000 people being employed is a huge number. More so in countries like Palestine where the unemployment rates are skyhigh. These jobs are almost always seen as “government jobs” and have heavy competition for them
Ifthikar would probably know what I’m talking about.
But in most of the cases, in India atleast and I dare say in other 2nd and 3rd world countries as well. There’s a strong element of referral when it comes to these jobs namely because of the salary these jobs come with and also with the power that is inherent with these positions. It won’t be unheard of for people to pay bribes to get these jobs.
And if people accepting the bribes are responsible for the verification, then whatever UNRWA maintains about testing the antecedents of the employees is ultimately gone. Because there almost certainly is corruption and nepotism involved in the appointment of these jobs.
It would be far simpler for UNRWA to trim their workforce w.r.t boots on grounds. Maintain the same level of support etc but to directly be an employer is asking for trouble.
The vermin have their priorities 
Heaven forbid they lay themselves open to an accusation of having facilitated a genocide.
How did Hamas get entangled with Iran? After the First Intifada (1987-93), Israel decided to expel/deport thousands of Hamas activists to, wait for it, Lebanon, where they found shelter under Hezbollah. The rest is history.
Yeah, take another 20% of the Palestine lands; That will really encourage them to be peaceful.
There is a hardcore sentiment in Israel to end the Palestinian presence in Gaza entirely.