Amid criticism, UNRWA nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

A Norwegian politician said on February 1 that he has nominated the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, embroiled in a controversy over the alleged involvement of employees in the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught against Israel, for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Labour MP Asmund Aukrust told the Dagbladet newspaper he had nominated the UN Relief and Works Agency “for its long-term work to provide vital support to Palestine and the region in general”, the Times of Israel reports.

“This work has been crucial for over 70 years, and even more vital in the last three months,” said the politician who is vice-chairman of Norway’s parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

Over a dozen countries, including major donors such as the United States, Germany, Britain and Sweden, have suspended funding to the UN agency over accusations that 12 staff members were involved in the October 7 atrocities, in which Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians massacred amid executions, the burning of bodies, rapes and other brutal atrocities, and kidnapped 253.

In response to the attack, Israel launched a major military offensive aimed at destroying the Gaza-ruling Hamas and returning the hostages. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, at least 26,900 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, an unverified figure that does not differentiate between terror operatives and noncombatants. The Israel Defense Forces says the military has killed some 10,000 fighters in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists killed in Israel on October 7.