November 6, 2025 | The Jerusalem Report
Israel banned UNRWA. A former IDF spokesman explains why
The first organization that must be removed from Gaza is Hamas; the second is the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
November 6, 2025 | The Jerusalem Report
Israel banned UNRWA. A former IDF spokesman explains why
The first organization that must be removed from Gaza is Hamas; the second is the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Excerpt
Ever since Hamas took power over the Gaza Strip in 2007, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) – the controversial UN aid agency responsible for the welfare of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants – has been a facilitator for Hamas’s military buildup.
By diverting international aid to provide for the civilian needs of Gaza‘s population per Hamas’s guidance, UNRWA enabled the Islamist terror group to divert the majority of its funds to military buildup in the shape of digging tunnels, manufacturing rockets, acquiring drones and sophisticated missiles, and paying and training a large force of jihadi terrorists.
Declassified Israeli intelligence revealed that more than 1,200 UNRWA employees were also active members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Jonathan Conricus is a senior fellow at FDD focused on the Middle East.