The United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency has spent more than nine months denying its employees work alongside Hamas, dismissing these claims as Israeli propaganda. On Monday, the organization fired nine staffers for participating in the Oct. 7 terror spree that killed more than 1,200 Israelis.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that it will fire a handful of its employees based in the Gaza Strip for working alongside Hamas as it slaughtered Israeli civilians. "For nine people," UNRWA spokesman Farhan Haq said, "the evidence was sufficient to conclude that they may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks."
It marks an abrupt about-face for the contested humanitarian group, which has long faced accusations that its employees double as Hamas agents and divert aid to the terror group. Israel alleges that at least 12 UNRWA employees directly participated in the Oct. 7 attack and that around 10 percent of its workforce is affiliated with the terror group, including around 450 employees who serve as Hamas foot soldiers.
For months after the Oct. 7 attack, UNRWA categorically denied claims that its employees work with Hamas, even as Israeli authorities offered direct proof. As recently as May, the organization claimed it has "not received any information, let alone any evidence, from the Israeli Authorities or any other [U.N.] Member State about" more than 1,200 employees who are linked to Hamas.
UNRWA only "became aware of this claim first from international media and later from a press briefing by an Israeli government official," the aid group said in a fact sheet disputing the allegations.
The United States and other international donors suspended their funding to UNRWA earlier this year after Israel provided "solid intelligence" that its employees are working for Hamas. UNRWA officials described the funding freeze as "shocking" and accused Israel of fabricating evidence to undermine the aid group’s operations in Gaza.
"The names of the 12 individuals against whom allegations were made were all shared multiple times with Israel and other Member States," UNRWA said in May. "Prior to January 2024, UNRWA did not receive any indication from the relevant authorities of any involvement of its staff in armed or militant groups."
UNRWA initiated an internal review after its funding was cut. The investigation led to Monday's announcement that UNRWA would fire nine Hamas affiliates.
As the internal investigation was taking place, UNRWA continued to claim evidence of Hamas-ties was untrue.
In April, UNRWA said Israel "has yet to provide supporting evidence" of its employees’ ties to Hamas, reports that were quickly picked up by media outlets like the Washington Post.
"Israel has not provided evidence that significant numbers of workers with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees are tied to militant groups," the Post declared in April after UNRWA published the initial findings of its investigation. "The findings released Monday will largely come as a relief to the embattled agency, which was pitched into an existential crisis in January after Israel alleged that a dozen of its 13,000 employees in Gaza participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks."
UNRWA also rejected claims that it has long been infiltrated by Hamas, even prior to the Oct. 7 attack.
"There is absolutely no ground for a blanket description of ‘the institution as a whole’ being ‘totally infiltrated,’" UNRWA said in May, pushing back against Israel’s claims otherwise.
UNRWA has also repeatedly denied knowing that Hamas was using its facilities in Gaza as command centers and weapons storage depots. UNRWA further claims that Israel tortured Palestinians captured on the battlefield, forcing them into falsely admitting their affiliation with the aid group.
UNRWA agency head Philippe Lazzarini said in February that the organization "did not know what is under its headquarters in Gaza." Lazzarini’s statement came after Israel unearthed a Hamas data center in its Gaza offices, one of several UNRWA sites used by the terror group to plan and carry out attacks on Israel.
UNRWA has also disputed video evidence showing that its aid was stolen by Hamas and diverted away from the civilian population.
"UNRWA is not aware of and has received no specific allegations regarding any systemic diversion of aid in Gaza by Hamas or other armed groups," the group said in May. "Should it be revealed to be the case, UNRWA will strongly condemn any diversion of humanitarian supplies and immediately inform its donors to determine appropriate next steps."