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Gaza Construction Funding "Incorrectly" Handled, UN Audit Finds
(Fox News) George Russell - An internal UN audit report reveals that a UN Development Program office that funds and monitors spending on construction in Gaza allowed at least five non-staff contract employees to handle "core" procurement processes that only staffers are supposed to handle. Moreover, the report says the UNDP office "was not monitoring and recording actual work" performed by these individuals. At the same time, the office's internal financial tracking system was improperly recording at least $8 million worth of civil construction spending at far less than its full value, a practice that kept the activity under the radar of UN officials who must approve purchases above defined cost threshold levels. Moreover, the Palestinian program office was not properly keeping track of expenditures or receipts in the financial system. The report adds a new level of credibility to Israeli accusations that internationally-managed relief supplies to Gaza were diverted for use by Hamas in the construction of terror tunnels.