United Nations monitoring group says the infamous UN relief agency An organization that provides $1.5 billion a year to Palestinians should be disbanded for colluding with terrorists and “enabling crimes against humanity.”
“The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is neither independent nor neutral,” says a scathing new report from Switzerland-based organization UN WATCH.
“UNRWA leadership not only employs individuals associated with Hamas terrorism, but also allows terrorist groups like Hamas to influence and disrupt important government decisions and policies. There is.
“UNRWA's failure to maintain neutrality and its susceptibility to terrorist groups undermines its credibility as a humanitarian agency and perpetuates conflict in the region,” the group said. “The time has come for donor countries to rethink their aid, dismantle institutions, and seek alternative frameworks for providing effective aid to Palestinians in need.”
Another damning report released last year found that more than 10% of chief and senior education staff employed by UNRWA in the Gaza Strip are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The UN Watch report includes shocking examples of alleged links between aid agencies and terrorists, including:
- UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini “surrendered” and met with the terrorist organization in May 2024 following the suspension of teachers' union head and Hamas leader Fatih al-Sharif. The ouster of Hamas leaders prompted mass rallies and the closure of UNRWA's Beirut headquarters.
- At a Hamas rally in August 2018, UNRWA Lebanon Director Schmare, along with Hamas militant leader Ali Baraka, expressed gratitude to the terrorist organization, saying donors must support UNRWA “until we return to Palestine.” He told the crowd that he would not.
- UNRWA participates in the annual Hamas conference to discuss internal affairs at UNRWA, including staff vacancies and teachers' union elections. At the 2021 conference, Hamas representative Ahmad Abd al-Hadi announced the creation of a joint committee to “supervise relations with UNRWA and ensure the fulfillment of its obligations.”
- In February 2017, UNRWA Lebanon Director Hakam Shahwan told terrorist leaders that UNRWA would build a “strong partnership mechanism” with them, unless it appeared to be “decision-making partners” with them, and “completely I’m ready.”
- In 2022, UNRWA's Mr. Lazzarini emphasized the importance of “partnership” with terrorist organizations in Gaza, meeting regularly with them under the umbrella of the “Joint Refugee Committee.”
“UNRWA is no longer a humanitarian agency, but a full-fledged partner of terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, told the Post.
“Western taxpayers are funding a $1.5 billion organization that actively collaborates with those who glorify violence and seek the destruction of Israel. This is an outrage,” he said.
Neuer specifically cited UNRWA's authorization of Hamas leader Fatih al-Sharif to run schools, which he said amounted to complicity in terrorism.
He said it was long past time to dismantle UNRWA, which was established in 1949, and replace it with a credible, non-terrorist alternative.
“The United States and Western countries that fund UNRWA need to wake up. Your money is being used to hire terrorists, brainwash children, and build an infrastructure of hate and violence. This is a betrayal of taxpayers and values,” Neuer said.
The United States has donated more than $1 billion to UNRWA in recent years, but stopped funding the relief agency last year following reports of ties to terrorist organizations.
“We urge the new Trump administration not only that the freeze be permanent, but also that the United States impose devastating sanctions on the terrorist-infested UNRWA and its leaders and hold them accountable in court. “We are asking them to announce that they will take legal action,” Neuer said.
There was no immediate comment from UNRWA.
