US envoy: Stop funding UNRWA, back Board of Peace for Gaza
Speaking at the U.N. on July 1, Ambassador Jeff Bartos said donors face a choice: continue backing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees or support a framework he said could bring Gazans “peace, prosperity and real durable change.” (Credit: UNTV)
Finland has become the latest European country to move away from funding the U.N. agency that provides aid to Palestinians, joining the United States and Sweden in halting donations to an organization facing intense scrutiny over alleged links to terrorism.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, is currently under investigation over alleged ties to Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza. In recent findings, the USAID Office of Inspector General and the watchdog group UN Watch have pointed to what they describe as additional evidence of Hamas infiltration within UNRWA, including claims that some agency members took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in southern Israel.
Finland said it will end its funding agreement with UNRWA at the close of 2026. The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs confirmed to News Media that the current arrangement will expire at the end of that year, adding, “As of yet, no decision has been made on what are the international partners through which Finland’s support will be channeled next year to meet the acute needs in the region.”
Finnish officials did not answer News Media’s questions about what factors led to the decision to change the country’s funding relationship with UNRWA.
This picture taken during a media tour organized by the Israeli army on February 8, 2024, shows Israeli soldiers inside an evacuated compound of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
While other nations still continue to fund UNRWA, President Donald Trump fully banned funding to the organization in February 2025, and Sweden ended funding to UNRWA in December 2024. Sweden redirected aid to other U.N. bodies for its Gaza response.
The future of aid provision in Gaza matters for the Trump administration-backed Board of Peace as it seeks to shape a conflict-free future for the region.
An official affiliated with the Board of Peace reconstruction effort told News Media that “the international community’s concern about UNRWA in Gaza continues to rise and is supported by damning evidence. The Board of Peace has been clear: New Gaza will be both demilitarized and deradicalized, and we will only be working with trusted, credible delivery partners to achieve our goals. We anticipate responsibly replacing UNRWA with vetted partners who will deliver for the people of Gaza.”
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Gaza, June 2023. (Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The USAID OIG is investigating about 1,500 members of UNRWA for terror participation, and has referred 108 UNRWA staff to the State Department to suggest they be suspended or excluded from further work with organizations in receipt of U.S. funds.
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A senior U.S. official briefed on USAID OIG’s ongoing investigation told News Media that the USAID OIG’s “independent findings are prompting several other countries to reassess the stale and conventional thinking that UNRWA is the best and only option to provide aid to civilians in Gaza.” The official said that the USAID OIG’s “findings also will prevent Hamas and October 7 affiliated staff from circulating across future, more responsible, aid organizations operating in Gaza.”
Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over an Israeli-American hostage, Keith Siegel, to a Red Cross team in Gaza City on Feb. 1, 2025, as part of the fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. Ranks of Hamas fighters formed up on Gaza’s beachfront in a show of force against the dramatic backdrop of breaking waves. (SAEED JARAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
UN Watch’s Terror Network report claims that about 12% of UNRWA staff in Gaza are members of terror organizations, based on “cross-checking UNRWA employee rosters with Hamas records seized by the [Israel Defense Forces.]”
Executive director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer told News Media that “Finland’s principled decision to defund terror-infested UNRWA will not deprive Palestinians of aid, as it will be redirected through genuine humanitarian agencies such as the World Food Programme that are not systemically infiltrated by Hamas.”
He said that “other democracies should follow” the examples of Finland, Sweden, and the U.S. “Contrary to what UNRWA supporters claim, the agency is not ‘indispensable’ — assistance can and must be delivered through responsible alternatives.”
Displays featuring what organizers say are UNRWA facilities and personnel involved in terrorist activities. Displayed at the “Return to October” exhibition in Israel. (Amelie Botbol for News Media)
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, told News Media that “UNRWA has taken note of the announcement, and they are grateful to Finland for the disbursement of the 2023–2026 funds under the multi-year agreement. UNRWA looks forward to continuing our discussions with the government.” He explained that “the Secretary-General continues to encourage member states to support UNRWA’s vital work.”
Finland’s four-year funding was around $23.23 million to UNRWA and will now end after this year. UNRWA did not respond to News Media questions about Finland’s decision.
Neuer said “defunding UNRWA is a prerequisite for deradicalization, the first step in the Gaza peace plan. Far from harming the prospects for peace, dismantling UNRWA is essential to achieving it. For decades, the agency has perpetuated the conflict by teaching generations of Palestinians that their future lies not in building their own society, but in a so-called ‘right of return’ that would eliminate Israel.”
He concluded by noting that USAID OIG and UN Watch’s exposes on UNRWA prove that “the agency is unreformable. Nations that genuinely want peace should stop financing this machinery of hate, and invest instead in humanitarian relief, deradicalization and Palestinian self-reliance.”