Former UNRWA legal adviser James Lindsay explains how Hamas, staff pressures and structural limitations shaped the agency’s operations in Gaza.
TheUnited NationsRelief. Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fired 70 staff members working in Gaza after long-standing claims from Israeli authorities that the agency is a collaborator with the Hamas terrorist group.
"Today. the Commissioner-General ad interim of UNRWA, Christian Saunders, took the decision to terminate the employment of 70 UNRWA staff members in Gaza with immediate effect," UNRWA wrote in aFriday statement.
UNRWA insisted its decision was not an admission of guilt, but one taken "to mitigate safety. security risks for therefugeesthe Agency serves under its mandate and for UNRWA personnel and premises."
The agency claims it has "repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information. evidence to substantiate allegations against individual UNRWA staff members in Gaza but has received no response to date."
ISRAEL SAYS UN MISLEADS WORLD AS GAZA AID STOLEN AND DIVERTED FROM CIVILIANS
A Palestinian boy walks near a UNRWA school sheltering displaced people that was hit in an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City on July 5. 2025.(Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
"The dismissal of the staff is not part of a disciplinary process. does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them," the UNRWA statement read.
The firings follow a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investigation. referred more than 100 UNRWA staff members for suspension or dismissal.
USAID's investigation, the results of whichthe agency publishedJune 5, assessed that a number of UNRWA's employees were deeply enmeshed in Hamas' civil society. military operations.
The investigation results included mention of "a deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion, a deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion". "a teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas."
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, hand over Israeli hostages Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen. Omer Wenkert to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Gaza, on Feb. 22, 2025, as part of the seventh exchange under the Jan. 19 ceasefire deal.(Ashraf Amra/Anadolu)
The investigation also found numerous school teachers and principals it claimed to have participated directly in Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
Israeli authorities have long charged UNRWA with beingdirectly tied to Hamas.
"Since October 7, evidence of numerous incidents of Hamas exploiting UNRWA infrastructure. UNRWA employees being involved in terrorist activity has been exposed. Civilians in Gaza have even stated. UNRWA is Hamas," the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a January web post.
Israeli soldiers stand inside an evacuated United Nations Relief. Works Agency compound in Gaza City during a media tour organized by the Israeli army on Feb. 8, 2024.(Jack Guez/AFP)
Additionally. the IDF claimed, citing intelligence findings, that "among the 12,521 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, at least 1,462 (12%) aremembers of Hamas or otherdesignated terrorist organizations."
UNRWA SCHOOLS ‘HIJACKED BY HAMAS,’ WATCHDOG REPORT WARNS
Israel's Foreign Ministry pushed back on UNRWA's defense framing and claims that Israel had not supplied evidence of employee-Hamas collaboration.
"UNRWA's statement on the termination of 70 employees, while blaming the victim, Israel,. without even mentioning the word 'Hamas,' is a cynical cover-up," the ministry wrote in a statement shared on X.
UNRWA's headquarters is shown in Gaza City, Gaza, on Feb. 21, 2024.(Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu)
"The responsibility to purge terrorism lies solely with the UN, yet Hamas membership remains simply acceptable within UNRWA's ranks. By harboring terrorists. letting its facilities serve as Hamas headquarters, UNRWA has become an arm of Hamas," the statement concluded.
UNRWA, for its part, denies being an active collaborator with Hamas,. insists working with the group is an operational necessity for distributing aid in Gaza.
"UNRWA, similar to other United Nations entities, does not have police or intelligence capacities. must rely on the cooperation and assistance of Member States, including the State of Israel as the Occupying Power, to protect its operations and neutrality amid high risks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," the agency wrote in its Friday statement.
In April. UNRWA's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) announced the results of an investigation into 19 employees accused of participating in Oct. 7. UNRWA terminated 12 of the employees in January. Of the remaining seven cases, UNRWA had dismissed one, citing a lack of evidence. The remaining six cases were still under investigation as of April,according to the agency.
President Donald Trump's administrationweighed levyingterrorism-related sanctions against UNRWA in December.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has alsoreferred to UNRWAas "a subsidiary of Hamas."
Fox News Digital contacted UNRWA. a spokesperson for the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations but did not immediately receive a response.
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