Jerusalem, 4 August, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel is intensifying its campaign against the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), accusing it of continuing to employ Hamas operatives and calling on governments to halt all funding to the agency.
Nothing new under the sun with @UNRWA. In lists of workers that were sent to @IsraelMFA last week, we can easily see that @UNRWA employes [sic] many terrorists from Hamas, some whose names were given to them by Israel even back on 2011 and were sent in a letter to @UNLazzarini and @antonioguterres in July 2024. Nothing was done about them and they are still employed,” tweeted Amir Weissbrod, Deputy Director-General for International Organizations at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, on Monday night.
Weissbrod warned that continued funding to the agency amounted to supporting terrorism: “Any responsible government that does not want its taxpayers’ money going to Hamas must stop supporting this organization.”
Nothing new under the sun with @UNRWA. In lists of workers that were sent to @IsraelMFA last week, we can easily see that @UNRWA employes many
terrorists from Hamas, some whose names were given to them by Israel even back on 2011 and were sent in a letter to @UNLazzarini and… pic.twitter.com/bbseFOuKpj— Ambassador Amir Weissbrod
(@AmirwWeissbrod) August 3, 2025
The renewed accusations come amid proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague over UNRWA’s legal status. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar lambasted the court and the UN for what he described as “another scandalous proceeding against the State of Israel,” adding that Israel would boycott the hearings.
“This time, an ‘advisory opinion’ is being sought regarding UNRWA, a UN agency plagued by terror and beyond reform,” Sa’ar said. “Israel has decided not to participate in this circus.”
Sa’ar accused both the UN and UNRWA of complicity in terrorism and antisemitism, charging that “under the UN and its Secretary-General, terrorists employed by UNRWA took an active role in the October 7 massacre. He later attempted to cover it up.”
UNRWA has been under fire with Israeli officials demanding the agency be stripped of its authority in Gaza and defunded amid revelations that members of the agency’s staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attacks.
Palestinian refugees are the only refugee population with its own dedicated UN agency. The rest of the world’s refugees fall under the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
In early January, UN Watch, a Geneva-based watchdog organization, accused UNRWA of having an “unholy alliance” with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Its 55-page report accused Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, and his colleagues of enabling infiltration by Hamas and other terror groups.
According to the report, over 10% of UNRWA’s senior educators in Gaza are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israeli authorities have also alleged that hundreds of UNRWA’s 13,000 Gazan employees, including teachers, are active members of Hamas. It also found that the terror groups influenced UNRWA policies, indoctrinated Palestinian children through agency schools, and established military infrastructure near UNRWA’s Gaza facilities.
UNRWA is banned from operating in Israel, and Israeli officials are prohibited from cooperating with the agency.
More than 100 survivors of Hamas’s October 7 attacks filed a $1 billion lawsuit against UNRWA in June, accusing the agency of “aiding and abetting” the terror group. The suit also alleges that UNRWA enacted an employee payment scheme to benefit Hamas in violation of UN protocols.
Israel’s largest bank froze UNRWA’s account in February 2024 over suspicious financial transfers that the agency failed to adequately explain. That same month, Israeli forces discovered a Hamas complex located directly under the UNRWA’s Gaza City headquarters and connected directly to the agency’s electricity system. The facility included numerous computer servers belonging to the terror group.
Approximately 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 50 remaining hostages, around 30 are believed to be dead.
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