Further investigation into the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), an organization for Palestinian refugees, likely will find that even more of its workers were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, former ambassador and national security adviser John Bolton told Newsmax on Friday.
"UNRWA is charged with providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank," Bolton told Newsmax's "Newsline." "It's got about 40,000 employees, of whom about 99.5% are Palestinian. So ... although it's a U.N. organization, it is deeply interconnected with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority."
UNRWA fired a dozen staff members Friday after Israeli authorities handed over evidence showing that the staff members allegedly were involved in the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on Oct. 7. The United States has also frozen funding to the organization based on the reports.
The Trump administration cut off funding to UNRWA, but the Biden administration restored it. Since then, the United States has paid UNRWA more than $730 million for assistance for refugees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Bolton commented that the reports of the UNRWA workers' alleged involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks show "why we need a fundamental rethinking" about the role of the United Nations in Gaza and the West Bank.
"This is a development, I think, that's going to have an enormous impact on this ongoing conflict," he added.
Bolton also noted that the reports about UNRWA show the control Hamas has in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians, he said, "knew there were tunnels under those hospitals, and they knew what they were being used for. They knew in schools, and hospitals, and mosques Hamas was storing missiles, and weapons, and ammunition."
Such collaboration in the Gaza Strip allowed Hamas to keep amassing power and to construct its "extraordinary network of tunnels" across the Gaza Strip, Bolton continued.
"So when we talk about who is Hamas and who are innocent civilians, there are a lot more Hamas people in the Gaza Strip than some [people] want to let on," he said.
Meanwhile, CIA Director William Burns is heading to the Middle East to try to negotiate a deal to release the hostages still under Hamas' control, and Bolton said he does not think he'll succeed.
"The strategic imperative for Israel and I think, frankly, for the United States is to allow Israel to continue the job, to achieve the objective they set out of eliminating Hamas military and political capabilities," said Bolton. "That's the only way you're going to bring security to Israel from the Gaza strip. I don't see what's so hard about understanding why Israel is entitled to victory."
Bolton further said that he thinks President Joe Biden is sending Burns to negotiate because he is "very worried about the reaction of the left wing of the Democratic Party."
"They are very pro-Palestinian, very pro-Hamas, very anti-Israel. And these are people who, if they stay home in November, could cost [Biden] the election," he added.
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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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