As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) commenced hearings regarding Israel’s legal obligations in Gaza, Israel’s foreign minister harshly criticized the United Nations on Monday.
Gidon Sa’ar described the U.N. as a “rotten, anti-Israel, and antisemitic body,” arguing that it should be investigated for allegedly covering up the involvement of UNRWA employees in the October 7, 2023, attacks. He insisted that the U.N. must be held accountable for these alleged actions.
Sa’ar informed reporters that Israel would not participate in what he termed a “circus,” aimed at denying Israel’s fundamental right to self-defense.
He placed personal blame on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, asserting that Guterres was aware of the situation within UNRWA and did nothing despite repeated warnings from Israel, instead choosing to whitewash the agency and conceal its alleged terrorist-affiliated employees.
Sa’ar reportedly presented evidence indicating that 25% of UNRWA staff were “implicated in terrorist activity” before Oct. 7, 2023, and characterized UNRWA as a proxy for Hamas.
Digital sought comment from Guterres’ spokesperson regarding Sa’ar’s accusations but received no response.
In a press statement on Monday, Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, told a reporter that the Secretary-General did not favor “a circus.” He described the presentation to the ICJ as “extremely detailed and very clear and very legal.” He stated that Guterres had been “very clear [and] straightforward” when the U.N. “first revealed the Israeli allegations against UNRWA.” Dujarric added that UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini had taken swift action in response to the complaints by terminating the appointments of some UNRWA staffers involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Dujarric also highlighted the “depletion of critical stocks” in Gaza since Israel began seeking a ceasefire with Hamas in March. He noted shortages of food, trauma-related medical supplies, surgical supplies, therapeutic milk, medicines, and other essential items.
In a statement on the ICJ hearings on April 28, U.N. Legal Counsel Elinor Hammarskjöld expressed the U.N.’s concerns regarding Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. Referring to the Israeli Knesset’s law passed in October 2024 banning UNRWA’s operation, she stated that Israel was preventing relief efforts, and that concerns about the impartiality of organizations could not be made unilaterally by an occupying power.
Hammarskjöld also emphasized that U.N. premises are “inviolable” under the Geneva Convention and “immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation, or any other form of interference.”
However, in February, the State of Israel’s statement on the ICJ’s proceedings cited instances demonstrating UNRWA’s violations of the U.N.’s mandated principles of “neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”
Israel’s statement further detailed instances of terrorist organizations using UNRWA installations as hideouts and claimed that agency staff had assisted or ignored terrorists seeking refuge at those locations. The U.S. suspended aid to UNRWA following allegations of staff involvement in the Oct. 7 attack.
On April 24, the reported that UNRWA, as a specialized U.N. agency, is not entitled to diplomatic immunity in the U.S. In a lawsuit filed in June 2024 in the Southern District of New York, 100 victims of the Oct. 7 attack are seeking $1 billion in damages from UNRWA, with Lazzarini named as a defendant.
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