Over the past 15 months, there have been numerous reports of UNRWA directly supporting Hamas’ terrorist activities:

• At least 12 UNRWA employees, including seven schoolteachers, participated in the October 7 massacre, took Israelis hostage and even used U.N. resources to assist in the attack.
• According to The Wall Street Journal, the intel that Israel shared with the U.S. revealed that around 10% of all UNRWA employees in Gaza — 1,200 out of 12,000 — have ties to terror organizations, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Meanwhile, 23% of UNRWA’s male employees have ties to Hamas.
• Around 50% of UNRWA employees in Gaza have close relatives who are members of the terror groups.
• U.N. Watch, a watchdog organization, uncovered a Telegram group of 3,000 UNRWA staffers that celebrated Hamas’ October 7 massacre.
• A released Israeli hostage reported that an UNRWA teacher held him captive in Gaza in inhumane conditions.
• In February 2024, the IDF discovered a Hamas communications center and intelligence hub with rows of computer servers under UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza, run on electricity drawn from the U.N.’s power supply. As The Wall Street Journal reports, “In 2014, part of the parking lot at the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza began sinking, likely from a Hamas tunnel dug beneath. ‘No one talked about what was causing the collapse,’ a former UNRWA official said, ‘but everyone knew.’”
• A video from October 7 revealed an UNRWA employee driving into Kibbutz Be’eri and abducting a slain Israeli civilian, carrying him into the back of an SUV. Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant identified the UNRWA staffer as a social worker named Faisal Ali Mussalem al-Naami. Gallant also said that 30 other UNRWA workers directly participated in the October 7 massacre.

• Also in February, Israeli security forces confiscated six military drones hidden in UNRWA shipments that entered the WestBank from Jordan through the Allenby Bridge.
• That same month, the IDF arrested eight UNRWA employees with direct ties to Hamas. Israel revealed that 440 UNRWA workers inGaza are active in the military wing of Hamas. 2,000 are registered Hamas operatives, and thus were actively fighting against the IDF.
• In March, the IDF released audio recordings of two UNRWA employees bragging about participating in the October 7 attack. “I’m inside, I’m inside with the Jews,” one says, while another says, “We have female hostages, I captured one!”
• In May, the IDF destroyed a Hamas war room embedded inside a UNRWA school in Nuseirat, used by Hamas’ Nukhba elite force.
• In a video interview released by the IDF inOctober, an UNRWA worker from northern Gaza revealed that Hamas uses the agency’s vehicles for terror activities across the enclave.
• In January 2025, three female Israeli hostages released under the hostage-ceasefire deal revealed that they had been held in a refugee camp operated by UNRWA.
• Also in January, IDF forces operating in theWest Bank found a stash of weapons in an UNRWA health center.

AIPAC strongly supported Congress’ decision to suspend funding for UNRWA for one year in April 2024.

The U.S. has been the single largest donor to UNRWA for many years, providing around 25% of the agency’s overall funding.

On January 30, two laws related to UNRWA passed by theIsraeli Knesset with broad support went into effect. The first bars the agency from operating within Israeli territory, while the second prohibits Israeli authorities from engaging with UNRWA or any entities working on its behalf in the West Bank and Gaza.

U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea, the Chargé d ’Affairs ad interim at the U.S. mission to the United Nations, spoke in support of Israel’s decision at the United Nations on January 28: “It is Israel’s sovereign decision to close UNRWA’s offices in Jerusalem… The United States supports the implementation of this decision. UNRWA exaggerating the effects of the laws and suggesting that they will force the entire humanitarian response to halt is irresponsible and dangerous.”

Israel has successfully facilitated the entry of over 1.3million tons of aid to Gaza over the last 15 months in coordination with other international organizations. Additionally, the IDF has surged humanitarian aid into the enclave during the ceasefire period, despite Hamas’ continued efforts to obstruct aid deliveries.

This plethora of allegations against UNRWA and its employees are indicative of the agency’s deep-seated animosity towards Israel and indifference to terror that have always existed within the agency. UNRWA plays a central role in promoting hatred of and conflict with Israel. Below are some of the key ways UNRWA has undermined coexistence with Israel:

• Glorifying Terror: UNRWA schools foster anti-Israel and antisemitic hatred through their curriculum and incite violence by glorifying notorious Palestinian terrorists.

• UNHCR vs. UNRWA: While the roughly 30million non-Palestinian refugees around the world are assisted by the U.N.agency for dealing with refugees — the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) — the Palestinians have their own U.N. body dedicated specifically to them. In contrast to UNHCR’s goal of helping refugees get on their feet and repatriated into third countries if they cannot return home, UNRWA maintains the Palestinian population’s isolation and dependency indefinitely.

• Unique Standard for “Refugee” Status: Unlike the standard of any other international organization or any other displaced people, UNRWA’s definition of refugees includes all descendants of the original Palestinian refugee population indefinitely — irrespective of whether they have resettled and gained citizenship elsewhere. This ensures that its refugees rolls expand exponentially every year. While the actual number of refugees from 1948 is less than 200,000, UNRWA’s count lists over 5.6 million people — including the fourth and fifth generation of the original refugees, two million Jordanian citizens, and millions of Palestinians living inPalestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank and Gaza. As the number of refugees grows, it becomes more difficult to reach an agreement over their future.

• Promoting the Myth of a “Return”: UNRWA’s educational curriculums and teachers also perpetuate the myth that allPalestinians enjoy a right to “return” to their original homes in Israel.Realization of such a “right” for generations that have lived elsewhere would pose a threat to Israel’s character as a Jewish democratic state. By instilling this ideal within generations of Palestinians, UNRWA undermines peaceful coexistence with Israelis and discourages Palestinian leadership from compromising on a solution with Israel.

• Dependence vs. Training: UNRWA prioritizes providing direct benefits like food and education while neglecting job training. Most Palestinians in Gaza remain dependent on external funding.Unlike the UNHCR, UNRWA’s mandate does not encourage or help Palestinians to become self-sufficient. The primary place that UNRWA creates jobs is within the agency itself. Astonishingly, UNRWA has around 30,000 employees (including 12,000 in Gaza) to serve Palestinians, while UNHCR has 18,000 employees for the rest of the world. Rather than promoting peace, UNRWA’s model inherently stymies the Palestinian independence and institution building necessary for any potential two-state agreement.