Gazans report UNRWA staff stealing, selling aid: watchdog

UNRWA workers complain about "rampant theft" and corruption, as some employees allegedly are stealing and selling off aid, a watchdog group says.

Amid the "rampant theft," the watchdog further claimed that UNRWA Commissioner-General Philipe Lazzarini "turns a blind eye" to serious problems within the management of aid distribution by the agency. Lazzarini, meanwhile, recently called for countries to increase direct cash assistance to Gazans because, although "there is more food available… it still does not mean that the food is accessible." Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace. 

The chatroom – which the watchdog group notes is also riddled with antisemitic slurs and posts celebrating Iran's attack on Israel – is run by a former UNRWA employee, Haitham al-Sayyed, according to UN Watch. The watchdog group noted that Al-Sayyed was removed from UNRWA in 2016 after he publicly called out the agency for hiding a UNRWA map that denied the existence of Israel while U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was holding a press conference at a school funded by the agency.