The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), an organization for Palestinian refugees, fired a dozen staff members Friday after Israeli authorities handed over evidence showing they allegedly were involved in the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
"To protect the agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement, reports the New York Post.
He further said that the investigation will include anyone involved to be held accountable, "including through criminal prosecution," and reiterated that UNRWA condemns "in the strongest possible terms of the abhorrent actions of 7 October and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all Israeli hostages and their safe return to their families."
The United States on Friday froze funding to the UNRWA after the allegations surfaced about the employees and the Hamas attacks, while the allegations and the steps being taken by the United Nations are being reviewed, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
"Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Jan. 25 to emphasize the necessity of a thorough and swift investigation of this matter," Miller added.
Funding to the agency was cut off in 2018 during former President Donald Trump's time in office, but the Biden administration resumed it after President Joe Biden took office. Since then, the United States has paid the UNRWA more than $730 million for assistance for refugees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The new allegations are leaving Republicans to call on the United States government to defund the UNRWA permanently.
"Since taking office, Joe Biden has funneled nearly $1 billion to UNRWA, whose employees were involved in the horrific October 7th terrorist attacks," Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., posted on X, adding that it took Biden during the more than 110 days Israel has been at war with Hamas "to finally cut off taxpayer dollars to a UN Agency that allegedly contributed to the mass slaughter of over 1,000 innocent people."
Blackburn, along with other GOP colleagues, presented legislation on Oct. 17, just 10 days after the Hamas attacks, calling for U.S. funding for UNRWA to be frozen, saying the agency had a history of being antisemitic and hiring people who were affiliated with Hamas.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., also spoke out Friday, commenting on X that "For years, the Biden Administration coddled UNRWA and ignored Republican calls for reform. They're now following our lead and it's only a matter of time before UNRWA will have to answer for its cover-ups and complicity with Hamas."
The White House, until now, has strongly defended the UNRWA, saying earlier this month that it was doing "great work" after House Republicans called for an investigation into allegations that the agency was helping Hamas terrorists by allowing them "food, fuel, and supplies" that were meant for humanitarian relief.
Blinken visited the UNRWA offices in Jordan a month ago, where he praised the agency's work and spoke out about the deaths of dozens of the agency's employees in the war.
The agency has also been accused of employing teachers who use textbooks that "glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis and incite antisemitism," according to a joint March 2023 report by UN Watch, a non-governmental organization, and the Israeli non-profit Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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