70 UNRWA employees fired for Hamas ties following USAID inquiries

The UN refugee agency UNRWA has fired 70 employees over ties to the terrorist organization Hamas following referrals from a U.S. government investigation, according to comments made Friday by UNRWA Acting Commissioner-General Christian Saunders and reported by the Geneva-based watchdog UN Watch.

The dismissals follow a recent probe by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Inspector General (USAID OIG), which identified more than 100 UNRWA staff members allegedly linked to Hamas, increasing scrutiny of the controversial agency's operations in Gaza.

“Among the individuals referred were UNRWA school principals, teachers, security personnel, attendants, psychosocial counselors, and medical professionals,” the USAID Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated.

UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer welcomed the move but argued that it represents only a fraction of the problem.

“This is a drop in the ocean. There are another 1,500 Hamas members receiving salaries from the UN,” Neuer told the news outlet Ynet News.

Neuer revealed that his organization also played a role in pressuring UNRWA to take action.

“Our ongoing documentation of Hamas’ deep infiltration of UNRWA, including the ‘terror network’ map we developed, identifying at least 400 operatives, alongside referrals by USAID’s inspector general, finally forced the agency to act,” he explained.

Neuer assessed that “today’s step is only the beginning.”

“For years, UN Watch has exposed how teachers, school principals and other UNRWA employees are embedded in Hamas activity, including terror chiefs who head their staff unions,” he said.

The allegations against UNRWA gained international attention in January 2024, when the United States and several other donor nations temporarily suspended funding after Israel provided evidence that some UNRWA employees had participated in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were kidnapped from communities in southern Israel.

Funding was later restored after a panel report released in April 2024 largely cleared the agency of institutional wrongdoing and concluded that Israel had not provided sufficient evidence linking UNRWA staff to Hamas. However, Israel subsequently provided a list of UNRWA employees allegedly affiliated with Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

In addition, multiple former Israeli hostages have testified that UNRWA workers were involved in their captivity. In February 2025, former hostage Emily Damari told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that she had been held in a UNRWA building in Gaza and denied medication.

Israeli intelligence has estimated that at least 10% of UNRWA’s approximately 14,000 employees in Gaza are affiliated with Hamas or other terrorist groups.

The Israeli Knesset voted in October 2024 to ban UNRWA from operating in Israel and the disputed territories, citing the agency’s alleged ties to Hamas.

Despite the recent dismissals, UNRWA reportedly maintains that the firings “do not in any way constitute confirmation of the allegations” that the employees were affiliated with Hamas.

“When the union representing UNRWA employees is itself controlled by Hamas operatives, it is no surprise they oppose removing their colleagues,” Neuer explained. “This is not the conduct of a neutral humanitarian agency, but of an organization captured by a terrorist group."

Looking ahead, Neuer emphasized that UNRWA is no longer fit for rehabilitation.

“We will not allow UNRWA to be rehabilitated. It must be shut down,” he said.

Neuer called on donor nations to cut all funding to UNRWA, accusing the agency of promoting antisemitism and serving Hamas's interests.

“Donor states must immediately end all funding and refuse to work with an agency that incites children to hatred in its schools and functions as a political, and at times even logistical, arm of Hamas. The UN has failed. Member states must act now with determination to dismantle this dangerous agency,” Neuer stressed.

UNRWA’s future remains uncertain following Israel’s decision to ban the agency from operating in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. In January, UNRWA announced plans to relocate to Turkey.

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintains close ties with Hamas and has emerged as one of Israel’s most vocal international critics.