UN press officer defers to UNRWA leadership on reported terminations of 70 workers

During questions, a reporter identified as Mike asked why UNRWA had terminated 70 workers when the public release said the actions were "not punitive" and that there was no evidence against those workers.

The United Nations staff member said the release described the terminations as related to the safety and security of the agency and that the decision was not described as punitive. The staff member said he would refer the reporter back to Anwar (identified in the briefing as the Commissioner-General) for fuller explanation and said that decisions by the Commissioner-General, including those taken by Christian Saunders, were made in the best interests of the organization.

When pressed on whether funding threats motivated the terminations, the staff member said he did not link the action to funding and would seek further clarification from UNRWA leadership.

The staff member did not provide additional documentation detailing the reasons for the terminations at the briefing and deferred further questions to UNRWA leadership.