The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) made the decision to dismiss 70 employees based in Gaza. This action follows persistent allegations from Israeli officials accusing the agency of collaborating with Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization.
In a statement issued on Friday, Christian Saunders, the interim Commissioner-General of UNRWA, announced the immediate termination of these staff members. The statement is available for further details on the UNRWA website.
UNRWA clarified that this decision should not be interpreted as an acknowledgment of wrongdoing. Instead, the agency emphasized that the move was made to reduce potential safety and security threats to both the refugees under its care and its staff and facilities.
The agency also highlighted its repeated requests to Israeli authorities for information and evidence regarding the allegations against individual staff members. However, according to UNRWA, there has been no response to these requests so far.
ISRAEL CLAIMS UN MISLEADS THE WORLD AS GAZA AID IS REDIRECTED AWAY 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 and 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 that referred more than 100 UNRWA staff members for suspension or dismissal.
USAID’s investigation, the results of which the agency published June 5, assessed that a number of UNRWA’s employees were deeply enmeshed in Hamas’ civil society and 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” and “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 and 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 being directly tied to Hamas.
“Since October 7, evidence of numerous incidents of Hamas exploiting UNRWA infrastructure and UNRWA employees being involved in terrorist activity has been exposed. Civilians in Gaza have even stated that UNRWA is Hamas,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a January web post.
Israeli soldiers stand inside an evacuated United Nations Relief and 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%) are members of Hamas or other designated terrorist organizations.”
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, and 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 and 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, but 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 and 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 administration weighed levying terrorism-related sanctions against UNRWA in December.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also referred to UNRWA as “a subsidiary of Hamas.”
News Media contacted UNRWA and a spokesperson for the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations but did not immediately receive a response.
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