Video shows UNRWA social worker abducting body of Israeli on Oct. 7
Faisal Ali Mussalem al-Naami identified by defense minister as one of 12 UN staff who ‘actively participated’ in massacre
A video from the Hamas terror group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel apparently shows an employee of the United Nation’s agency for Palestinian refugees abducting the body of an Israeli man into the back of an SUV.
The man was identified on Friday by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as Faisal Ali Mussalem al-Naami, a social worker with the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip.
The video was first published by Telegram channel “South First Responders” on October 10, just three days after the mass Hamas onslaught.
The attack saw some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel from Gaza by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages of all ages — mostly civilians — under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.
In the surveillance camera footage, a white SUV can be seen driving into Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities hit hardest on October 7. The vehicle stops in front of three bodies lying on the street and sidewalk beside an overturned picnic cooler.
One man exits the car with a rifle. The driver, who is dressed in black and identified as al-Naami, follows.
Warning: Disturbing footage
Together they carry one of the men lying in the street by the arms and legs and stuff him into the back of the SUV.
The two then briefly look through scattered belongings before reversing out of the kibbutz and driving off.
In Gallant’s Friday briefing with foreign press, the minister revealed the identities of 12 UNRWA staff who “actively participated” in the October 7 massacre, including al-Naami. Gallant said another 30 UNRWA staff were involved in the attacks.
A screenshot of the previously published video was shown in the briefing.
Jonathan Fowler, a UNRWA spokesperson, said in response to the video: “It is not possible for UNRWA to verify the footage or photographs and ascertain who the person is. We were not presented with any evidence from the Israeli authorities.”
“But given the fact that there is an investigation underway by the highest investigative authorities in the UN, we invite any country, party or institution with information – including information available in the public domain – to provide it to the Office of Internal Oversight Services at UN headquarters to help advance this investigation,” he said.
The US and multiple European countries halted aid to UNRWA last month following Israel’s allegations against staffers. Donors such as Britain and the United States have indicated they will not resume support until the UN’s internal investigation into the allegations ends. A preliminary report is due to be published in the next several weeks.
Israel, which provided the evidence of UNRWA members participating in the attack, has said the mandate for the probe is too vague and won’t prevent terrorists from taking advantage of the organization in the future.
Israel has said Hamas used UNRWA facilities for its own purposes and built parts of its massive underground network of tunnels and military facilities underneath the UN organization’s sites. It recently took multiple media outlets to tour one such operations center under UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City.
Related: Directly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters, IDF uncovers top-secret Hamas data center
The allegation that Hamas was running a data center under UNRWA’s nose has added to growing concerns over the level of Hamas infiltration in the agency.
According to Gallant, of the 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza, at least 12% are affiliated with the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.
Jerusalem has long argued that UNRWA should be disbanded, and the recent allegations have led several donor countries to announce funding freezes, leading to concerns that the agency, which says it is the main conduit for aid for millions in the Strip amid the Israel-Hamas war, could stop operating in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East within weeks.
