The top humanitarian relief official for the United Nations announced his resignation Monday, weeks after he said Iranian-backed Hamas was not a terrorist group.
Martin Griffiths, 72, who led the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) since July 2021, is resigning because of health reasons, according to a statement from U.N. Sec. Gen. Antonio Guterres.
"After 3 years on the job, I have informed @antonioguterres of my intention to step down in June," Griffiths wrote in post on X. "To everyone at @UNOCHA, it's been the privilege of my life. I am deeply in your debt. To all partners and supporters, thank you for championing the cause of people in crises."
Hamas' terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7 led to the massacre of more than 1,200 civilians, with about 250 others being taken hostage. Following the attack, Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip to wipe out Hamas and rescue the hostages.
On Feb. 14, Griffiths said in an interview with Sky News that he wouldn't categorize the group as a terrorist organization when asked whether Israel's goal of wiping out Hamas and not allowing it to be a governing factor in Gaza was realistic.
"I think it's very difficult. I've worked with many, many, many different terrorist and insurgent groups," Griffiths said. "Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, of course, as you know; it's a political movement."
Griffiths clarified his comments a day later in a post on X, writing he meant to say that Hamas is not on the list of groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.N. Security Council.
"This doesn't make their acts of terror on Oct. 7 any less horrific and reprehensible, as I've been saying all along," he wrote.
That didn't stop the Israeli government from condemning him.
"The United Nations breaks a new record low every day," Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote Feb. 15 on X in a post translated from Hebrew. "The Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations @UNReliefChief rejects the fact that the Nazi terrorist organization Hamas is a terrorist organization, calling it a 'political movement' and the Secretary-General of the United Nations continues to [as well].
"We will eliminate Hamas with or without them. Jewish blood is not wasted."
The U.N. has been under fire because Israel has claimed hundreds of its workers for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were members of Hamas and that Hamas used UNRWA's headquarters in Gaza City as cover for a subterranean data intelligence center.
The U.N. reportedly fired several UNRWA workers in January after being briefed by Israel about their ties to the Oct. 7 attack. Israel earlier this month reportedly claimed 450 UNRWA workers were part of Hamas, but the agency said it has never been informed or received any evidence of Israel's claims.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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